Rip Van Saffron

It's always a shock to see these autumn crocuses appear without warning - or indeed without leaves. The leaves emerge in spring, and I mark their position with stones so that I don't tread on them or their much later flowers, and then they die back, leaving no trace till now. It's an odd growth habit - the human equivalent would be growing up to be a teenager, then lying dormant for decades, then dressing up to have brief sex before dying. I have an awful feeling that someone is going to tell me they know someone who's done just that.

I was given the bulbs by my neighbour who said they might be saffron - of course they're not, saffron flowers appear later and have the characteristic two long orange pistils from which the most expensive spice in the world is made. Around the beginning of November, I hope to go to nearby Neffies for the saffron harvest and its associated meal of paella - the best I've ever tasted.

But these will do for now - the delight in seeing them so unexpectedly made me forget my troubles.