Extend Your Garden With Fall-Flowering Crocus

by Amanda

When the season winds down in fall and blooms starts to fade, it can make a gardener get a little, well, gloomy. A fantastic, fun way to get rid of these late-season blues is by planting fall-flowering crocus in the late summer months. These quick-blooming beauties add jewel-toned colors to the fall garden and are extremely easy to grow. These late-season bloomers are also perennials, multiplying each year, and will quickly become a staple of your fall garden. Saffron Crocus This purple-blooming variety is the most popular fall-flowering crocus, due to the high demand and price of the spice made from this flower’s stamens: saffron. It’s easy to harvest, dry and then store the stamens to use in your favorite culinary creations. Not interested in the spice? No problem. This easy-to-grow crocus adds elegance to the garden and in containers. You can also plant Saffron Crocus indoors on a sunny windowsill. Fall-Flowering Crocus and Colchicum These varieties bloom so quickly it’s like magic. Plant in August, either in the ground or in containers, and within days you’ll see them poking through the soil. Coming in a variety of pinks, purples and white, Crocus and Colchicum create a unique, colorful statement in your late season garden. Each bulb will produce about 5-10 stems, creating a multitude of blooms just when you need them most – In the fall!