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why oh why...

16 years ago

those new very strange regulations about seed imports went into effect?

Secret seed just announced 50p /about $1/ sale on great number of their seeds. Do they have varieties of primulas, penstemons, salvias and such!

seed sale

Life was so simple- order, pay, receive.

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Comments (10)

necia
16 years ago
I had no idea of the seed imports regulations. I had never even considered buying seeds from the UK. But, now that I see all of the salvia seeds~I WANT them! And, of course, I am sad that I would have to jump through hoops to get them =(

Sometimes, ignorance is Bliss!
Necia
Belgianpup
16 years ago
You can thank our dear Homeland Security for that. 9-11 has been used to reduce our freedoms incredibly in the past few years.

The THEORY of of the politically-correct, pea-brained idiots in WA DC is that someone could ship seed to the U.S. that was contaminated with something.

This seems extremely unlikely to ME. Our own scientists with their genetically-modified and RoundUp-insensitive seeds are pretty much taking care of our formerly-wide, genetically-sound worldwide seedbase.

Cynical Sue
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limequilla
16 years ago
It's a simple matter to get the Aphis certs. Quick, too. You can order online, pay online, and in the delivery comments section tell them "it's coming" (meaning the certification and mailing label) and mail it off to the UK.

http://www.secretseeds.com/USA_seed_imports.htm

Lime
sheltieche
Original Author
16 years ago
Lime
I got the certificate, it took me couple of weeks to receive it after I faxed request. Problem is I do not have any Fedex acounts or any other mailing acounts, I have no clue where this homeland security place my seeds will be send to and how I am suppose to know and pay postage to ship my seeds from that agency to my home?
limequilla
16 years ago
I can tell you what happened to me last year. I sent off my labels and a slip of paper with the directions for the vendor (and it was a pain for the vendor who was in Australia). Because they were bulbs, I put in enough postage stamps to get them from the US port to Indiana.

I received an email from APhi (Or whoever is at the port) that my seeds were in from Aus and they were sending them out to me that day. When I opened the package, my bulbs were there, but also my postage stamps.

I assume you can place your order with SS, pay by credit card, and put a note in the comments setion about how your APHIS paperwork is on its way. Cross reference all your correspondance and APHIS certs with the order number and mail it off to the UK. They will take care of their end and send them back. LOL!

Now that I've typed it up, I see it's going to be a real PIA! "Why oh why" is right!

Oh the otherhand, $1.00 a pack for things you'd like might be worth it. If you do place an order, maybe you could add on a few packs for your new best friends. :))

Lime
maria
16 years ago
I love the Secret Seeds 50p sale! They have over 200 varieties on sale right now. I haven't placed my order yet because of the hassle of getting the phytosanitary cert. My printer hates me right now so I can't print it out anyways.

With the value of the U.S. dollar right now, this sale is welcome. Even with the PIA paperwork. YMMV

Maria
sheltieche
Original Author
16 years ago
I think if more of us voiced our opinion on this matter maybe government would not have been able to get away with such regulations. I find them totally unnecessary, am buying seeds from legal reputable company and most of the gardeners I have met are environmentally conscientious people who always try do not harm mother nature.
I have been customer of Secret Seeds for several years and I like to give them my business because they are small enough company which depends on gardeners like me... so if I do not, maybe there will not be such company next year...
Secret Seeds is also educational company for me- I am not a botanist and am not aware that such and such plants even exist so am relying on them to bring me something new and unusual to enjoy in my garden. Why limit that?
Sorry for all this rumbling but this bureaucracy irritates me to no end...
seed sale is too good to pass so off we go.... ;)
It is the only company I know that sells aconitum hemsleyanum- climbing monkshood which I got few years back and it now graces my garden. They also only one company that I was able to identify to have blue impatiens- impatiens namchabarwensis- recent discovery. Annie's annuals sell them for $16 a piece...
chestnutpatrick
16 years ago
I arranged a trade with a member from the netherlands this week and received a bubble envelope with a note stating that the seeds were intercepted and destroyed. Not good.

PC
sheltieche
Original Author
16 years ago
Had that happen to me once with seeds from Chilterns. They replaced it and second package came undetected so everything ended well but it is so frustrating...
PC
was it you last year who posted some collectors lists from Europe?
chestnutpatrick
16 years ago
Linda,

The sender was a private source. No documentation. The are going to send another pack.

No I did not post seeds from Europe. You can buy seeds that are produced in Europe but most companies deal with local brokers who distribute in the USA. I want to order from Jelitto(German company); this company has a distributor in the mid-west. The ag. regulations are becoming a pest but the major concern is the weak dollar. (1.50 Euro = 1 dollar). Quite expensive to deal abroad.

PC

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