People rarely sell seed of rare species because they can sell the bulbs for $40-100 each....why would anyone give up a cash cow like that when the seed are only going to sell for a buck or two each!!

reticulatum v. striatifolium is a very common species sold by the growers in Thailand very cheaply on ebay almost continuously.

I and others have posted before, just yesterday for me that several species seed can be obtained from Mauro in Brasil. Occassionally he has some rarer species, but these will sell out in well under 24 hours after he posts them.

Best of luck on your quest :o) Dan

Thanks Dan for your very valuable input. I must say that your point of view states the sad reality... ):

But, since shipping bulbs outside of one's country is for both, the shipper and the customer, very difficult because of the constantly changing rules as well as being very costly, most peoples that have plants, bulbs ar any live vegetal material for sale will be detered from doing it. Seeds are not subjected to the very same rules and thus travel much more easily than live plant material, that is why I was trying to go that way.

All I have left is hope to find the bulbs from a seller willing to go through the hassle of shipping internationaly or the seeds. Thank you again Dan!

Laurier
My web site

Try Telos Rare Bulbs.This person ships to the US so I assume Canada would not be a problem

Here is a link that might be useful: Telos Rare Bulbs

Telos is in the US so that is not much help, but they do have some nice plants....not any really rare Hippeastrum, but some other nice bulbs!!

I import a LOT so do not necessarily agree with that being tough......just got in more really rare Amaryllids from South Africa last week, but I do realize not everyone wants to take the risk.

Mauro has some nice F1s listed on his site assuming that he still has some of the seed left :o) Dan

Thank you both for the info.

I looked at Telos, and yes, they can ship to Canada. The catch is that you need an order for at least $100, a phyto for $50, a preparation fee between $15-50, plus cost of shipping. That comes to more fees than the plants' worth. I figure that it would cost around $225 out of which $100 would be for the bulbs and $125 for the fees. In a few words, it is prohibitive. And the choice of available plant is limited and not quite what I'm looking for.

I also found: http://amaryllis-plus.com/. They can ship outside of the USA, but their site doesn't say much about it, but I would say it seems less costly than Telos. The choice of available bulbs is also limited to just a few species, the most easily available ones.

Another one I found is http://www.shieldsgardens.com/. They ship outside of the USA at a reasonable cost, but their choice is even more limited than the 2 others. They have one that I would want: mandonii, worth $45.

I also checked Mauro's site, but not many species available right now. I seems to be a very reliable place though.

So far, the best place I found completely by chance is http://www.thegardeningwebsite.co.uk/hippeastrum-national-collection-applied-for-junius-des-brisay-c8505.html. It doesn't say enough, but if what they say is true, it ought to be the largest collection of hippeastrum species in the world, and it may become the largest supplier of such bulbs in the future. I wrote them to get more info about what they can do or not.

As for import/export, I used to import orchid plants in quantity several years ago. It was a doable thing at that time. Now I see some very nice peonies, irises, daylilies, etc. south of the border and not available up here. When you write to these suppliers, many will answer they wont ship outside the continental USA, and most (not to say all) certainly not to other countries because exporting has become too much of an ordeal: lot of paperwork, often changing rules, certificates of all kind, prohibitive costs for customers, long transit time, losses because of long transit time, etc. Many that used to export not so long ago wont do it anymore today because of that.

And here in Canada, they sure don't make things easy to anyone who wants to import plants nowadays, no matter where from. It is a challenge to find out what the rules are, there are high costs for the permits, and anything coming into or going out from Canada by mail will take at least 30 days. I very recently sent a small envelope of hippeastrum (Fairytale x self) seeds to a lady in Louisiana and it took almost 5 weeks to get there. The only safe and fast way is courrier services, but we all know what these cost. I have no doubts that in some places it can be quite easy to import/export plants, but from my own experience, Canada is most certainly not one of these places.

So, there we are. I'm waiting for some answers from the ones I wrote to, and I'll see what happens next. If it never sees a happy ending, I hope these posts will at least inform other readers about the pitfalls involved in trying to get hard things to get. Don't worry, I'm not discouraged... yet ((:

Laurier
My web site

Dan,

Would you please say more about what is required to import bulbs to the US from countries like South Africa (e.g., import permit, phytosanitary certificate, wholesale license, minumum order, VAT or other tax forms)?

Many thanks,

Blanca

Hi Laurier, Do not get discouraged at all. If you can manage to get ahold of the guy at Amaryllis Plus he has a large collection......the trouble is getting him to get back to you and then the price structure. Same with Jim Shields......I'm certain he has many species, but they are not listed.....you may be able to get some one-offs if you can handle the prices.....I would contact both of them and simply ask....I have contacted Kevin Preuss at Amaryllis Plus before to get one of my Griffinia IDed, but he never did get back to me on Hipps. Junius is OK to deal with.....I forget who his partner is, but he totally turned me off.....too much about money, not enough about the plants for my liking, but that was only my experience.

Blanca....I hate to say this and get a large debate going because it often does and I do not want to deal with it, but importing is TRIVIAL!!!!! You can fill out the import permit for all non-CITES plants in about 5 minutes over coffee. It will take 2-3 weeks or so to get your import permit. Then you order.....yes, the shipper needs to supply the Phyto (not you) and that is about it.....it is all real easy to follow the directions. I just did two large imports ($7K) from South Africa this spring and fall with a few other like-minded growers so we got wholesale pricing on some really rare Gethyllis, Brunsvigia, Boophane, Crinum, Ledebouria, MAssonia, etc. etc. There is one caveat....sometimes something goes wrong and the bulbs do not make it past the USDA because of bugs or whatever....this is totally your loss....it does happen, it does not good to complain....the cost of importing......depending on the species they can rot in transit....not a problem for SA species though. It depends on the seller if there is a minimum (most places there are), the phyto usually costs between $25 and $50 depending on country. NO VAT, no tax forms.....apply for your import permit, find a reputable seller and have a go for it.....I always go in with people because it is easy to get the minimum that way and usually a good seller will toss in some freebies so the person organizing it gets "paid" for their time and effort.

Best of luck :o) Dan

Dan,

Thank you so much for the valuable information. Years ago, I had an import permit that I used for cacti and other succulents. I was concerned that importing might have become more complex in the post-9/11 world. I will give it a go again.

Best,

Blanca

Hi Dan
Im a bit confused, I dont think Ive ever had a conversation with you have I? I dont see how I could have turned you off.
Please dont talk about me on a forum when I havent even had a conversation with you. Much appreciated
Thanks
Andy

Andy, Obviously I had e-mail conversations with you if you are the person that works with Junius and YES, you turned me off......how else would I even know Junius has a "partner" as I said above unless I had some sort of communication with you?? I apologize for this, but the facts are not in dispute in any way, shape or form at all......being turned off is for me to decide after e-mailing you, it is not for you to decide if you turned me off.....seems simple enough from my perspective. I was just being honest above, but if I was too hasty again I apologize as life is too short to worry about it more than that :o) Dan

It is so easy to ship bulbs from a point inside the USA to anywhere in the world. All a person outside the USA needs is someone inside the USA who can help out with transshipment. The person inside the USA then uses just a small bit of creativity when descibing the package contents on the customs label.