Growing asparagus and saffron together

[ChingfordHarry]

hi

i was looking at my asparagus bed yesterday, and thought about how it is almost completely bare for much of the year. I used to grow saffron in containers, but the corms eventual just divided and divided and became smaller and smaller, and no longer flowered, so I gave up.

i was wondering, though. I know that asparagus doesn't like competition in the same bed, but saffron is pretty dormant while the asparagus is busy growing (and vice versa) so why not try killing two birds with one stone? Why not try growing the two together? Essex used to be famous for its saffron, and although Chingford is no longer in Essex, it's still close!

Thoughts, anyone?

[ameno]

I doubt the crocuses would do much harm to the asparagus, as long as you didn't plant the corms right on top of the asparagus crowns, but don't saffron crocuses come out in leaf and then flower in about September? Isn't that more or less when asparagus is at it's most bushy and casting the most shade?

[ChingfordHarry]

From what I remember, the flowers appear (September - October) before the leaves, then the leaves last until early spring (I have just been reminded that my last harvest of saffron was in 2006, hence my somewhat hazy memory). I cut the asparagus down completely at the end of the year, but it's certainly dying off from the beginning of December. So that would be two months or so of competing for the autumn light - though the saffron crocuses wouldn't offer much in the way of competition in that sphere.

It's probably worth trying as an experiment - unless anyone else has a warning against it!