The US Postal Service has delivered a nice myriad of pests and diseases to California via otherwise good-meaning people. The citrus industry there is now battling huanglongbing because of a church group of plant enthusiasts sharing cuttings of pomelo shipped in from a single member's family in Asia. A man who thought an Indian (the country) stick bug would make a neat pet for his son has led to this pest wreaking havoc upon parts of Southern California. It's not like our more common "stick bugs"...this one can get up to 6 inches long and a crew can take out a garden overnight. They reproduce heavily when they have a lot to eat. We gotta be careful about this kinda stuff. It's a big reason there's not a ferry service between the individual Hawaiian Islands. The spread of invasives and it's impact upon animal/agriculture on the different islands is enough of a concern to keep a ferry out of the equation. Some islands have mongoose, some don't. Some have invasive morning glory species, some don't. etc etc... This post was edited by nc-crn on Wed, Jan 2, 13 at 3:11

Taken for this website; How to Start a Wild Iris From Seeds By Meg Butler Wild iris grown from seed must grow for at least two years before it will flower. Starting wild iris from seed is a simple task, but it requires patience. Wild iris seed is sown in September and must spend the winter underground before it germinates in spring. Once wild iris germinates, it must grow for two to four seasons before the plant is mature enough to flower. When the wild iris does flower, however, it will produce three to four flowers per stalk for most of the month of June. Read more: How to Start a Wild Iris From Seeds : eHow http://www.ehow.com/how_7339031_start-wild-iris-seeds.html#ixzz2TYgip6GF Water your iris seeds and surrounding soil frequently enough to keep the seeds and soil constantly moist, but not soaking wet, from the time of planting through sprouting in the spring. Local rainfall and weather, planting location and soil texture will impact how frequently you need to water. Warmer climates with little rainfall and fast-draining soil will require more frequent, even daily watering. Cooler, rainy or humid climates with humus-rich or clay soils will require less frequent watering. Moisten the seeds and soil slowly with a very gentle mist so as not to displace the seeds or disturb nascent roots. A hose attachment set on a mist or light rain setting will help to keep the seeds and soil in place. Set automatic commercial mist irrigation systems to provide your iris seeds with a regimen of 10 seconds of active misting during each 15 minutes of sunlight or artificial daylight hours.

A photosanitary certificate (PS certs.) are a must when sending seed/bulbs from country to country. I've had seeds from Malaysia sent to me before without a certificate but with an agricultural customs forms (from Malaysia) filled out and it got here fine. Do keep in mind that one seed is enough to ruin a whole ecosystem. Generally, tropical seeds/plants do not pose as big a risk as plants from similar temperate zones. The water hyacinth 'crisis' in the southern states, the loostrife here are some examples of what happens when plants adapt TOO well and take over. The other concern is with disease and pests. True that a pest in the Australian outback might not survive in our Canadian climate and die come winter, but the time it lived during the summer might have been enough to spread. They might overwinter in your potted plants and come back stronger and more adapted next year. Unlike pests and insects, bacterial/viral diseases are invisible to the naked eye. The reason why PS certs cost $$ is because they actually test for pests on a microscopic level. As a general rule: seeds should be sent in a CLEAR resealable baggie with scientific name PRINTED clearly on the baggie. There should be NO plant matter aside from the seeds (meaning no bits of seedpod, bits of leaves, twigs, etc.). Bulbs have to be individually labeled with NO earth/dirt on them. ALL plants should be dirt free and be sent bareroot.

Hi Petunia, Yeah, I agree, looking forward to gardening helps us cope with winter! I just wanted to comment on the heat mats. I've used one for years and have had good success rates for germination with it. Germination is faster also. Yes they are small, but I only use it for germination. Once the seeds sprout, the containers are moved under the lights. Also, I seed into small containers to start. Once the seedlings have a couple sets of true leaves I prick them out and transplant into larger containers. That way I can have quite a few containers on the heat mat at once. Good luck and good gardening!