Adding a little to what Jane said, I know that it happens to be the case that for many of those desirable bulb species where seeds are nigh unto impossible to find sources for, that there are people out there striving to produce seeds from the bulbs that are already out there. And in particular, in Australia and New Zealand, where the bulb import restrictions are way worse than they are in the U.S., people there have gone to great lengths sometimes to go through the effort of importing bulbs in order to get new clones so that their seed production efforts might improve. They can fairly easily import seeds (more easily than into the U.S. IMO). But when seeds are almost never or never available, I can see why such efforts are justified. I believe that, for example, such has been the case for Paramongaia weberbaueri. Then there are the countries where it seems to have become the case that *export* of seeds of native species, let alone bulbs, has become so restrictive as to be nearly impossible. One major example is one of my loves which is South American amaryllids, including Hippeastrum species. It kills me to see all the photos of various Hippeastrum species from Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, etc. posted by local people on Facebook, and yet virtually no bulbs or even seeds are ever available. Plus, I get the strong impression that legally they’re not supposed to trade even seeds with people outside their countries. When seeds or bulbs of these species occasionally show up on eBay, the bids rapidly rise into the hundreds of dollars in many cases. Another example is Ismene amancaes from Peru. Apparently the effort to repopulate them has become very successful and I’ve even seen photos of an annual festival for this flower that has been re-started with hillsides covered with the flowers and the selling of large bouquets of cut amancaes flowers being sold at the festival by local growers. And yet, no seeds of it are available ever anywhere that I’ve looked or asked. And only very very rarely can bulbs of it be found being offered. And I don’t think you’ll ever find seeds or bulbs available for some of the very recently described amaryllid species such as Paramongaia multiflora or Clinanthus milagroanthus (now also a Paramongaia). I don’t know where this modern situation will lead. I suspect that more plant poaching and smuggling than we might like will occur. I remain still completely in favor of the direction South Africa took, for example with Clivia mirabilis when it was first discovered. They gathered a quantity of seeds and sprouted them at Kirstenbosch. Then they put out a worldwide announcement for anyone who wanted to order up to two seedlings of it after they were a couple of years old. They then provided the phytosanitary inspection and certificate to have them shipped to a single address in each country and from there be re-distributed within the country to all those who paid for them in advance. (I’m not sure if those in Australia and New Zealand went through their awful importation, fumigation, and quarantine process. Maybe they were given special dispensation to order seeds directly.) In this way they saturated the world market and I think they’ve avoided the poaching and smuggling problem that has occurred with new orchid species, for example. Had I known before 9/11 how difficult things would become, I probably would have tried to order everything I could have from all over (had I known what I would fall in lust with back then!). If wishes were horses… --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m > On Dec 10, 2019, at 11:10 AM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> wrote: > > Thank you to Lee Poulsen, William Aley, and others who have clarified, or tried to clarify, this topic. All I have to say about it in public is that this is yet another reason to grow your bulbs from seed. 20 years ago I used to order bulbs from overseas -- fortunately, many of them are still with me -- and did not have an import permit, but obviously the situation has changed. If you have a kind friend who has a nursery and an import permit, perhaps you can look at whatever list he or she is ordering from and ask that your wants be added to their order, offering of course to share shipping cost (which can be greater than the cost of the bulbs). > > From time to time the PBS board has discussed obtaining seeds and/or bulbs from outside the USA for offer in the BX/SX. I think this was done for seeds in the past; they would have been plants I don't grow, so I don't remember much about it. The problem is that the BX manager would have to anticipate the demand for particular items and order them months in advance, and then live in hope that the parcel doesn't get held up at the inspection station so long that the material becomes non-viable. > > Another work-around for import restrictions is already in place with PBS: sharing knowledge of the really vast range of plants members grow in their own countries. This does expose you to a little annoyance if you mention a great rarity of which you have three bulbs, but it's worth it. (Maybe someday -- /not this year /-- I'll have enough Tulipa regelii to share.) Our website not infrequently gets questions from non-members in Australia or New Zealand, countries with very strict import regulations, about where they can get certain bulbs. I post these on this forum in the hope that some reader in their country will contact them with the information, and in doing so, expand our community of practice. > > Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…