Saffron Surprise

Some fifteen years ago, or maybe more, I bought a handful of saffron bulbs at a market. I planted them in a tub and after a while long, thin leaves and one flower appeared. The next season nothing came up. I used the tub for something else, and later white rose campion colonised the tub. Years passed. A few months ago I decided to use the tub for something else and dumped the contents in a dip that needs to be filled. I have not watered the area, and the campion leaves dried and curled. Then today I noticed a little purple flower. It is dry and battered by the gusty nor’west winds, but there’s no mistaking it as a saffron flower. I’m astonished that at least one bulb has survived unseen for so long.