When nature has already served up its finest culinary treasures, crocus sativus has its big moment. In places with enough sun and warmth for this perennial crocus variety, it blankets mountainsides with violet flowers overnight. This beautiful spectacle is the starting gun for the saffron harvest in Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan and Kashmir. For 10 days in early november, everything revolves around flower picking, because the exquisite flowers wilt within just two days.