Salvia divinorum is illegal to plant in some states because people are afraid kids will smoke it. Of course, the kids who do smoke it are usually smoking 20x concentrated extracts of it, not the plant itself, and 20x extracts of any herb is so concentrated that it's likely to be dangerous. There are a lot of other salvias that are not illegal at all. If you got your seeds from a gardener instead of from someone who was smoking salvia, yours is probably just fine. And yes - kids are insane. And so are the people who ban plants. Don't tell your daughter, but some types of pine were smoked by Native Americans. White pine was smoked by some tribes by people who we having difficulty dealing with the loss of a loved one or who were feeling that they were being visited by ghosts. I'm sure someone somewhere thinks that since it's used psycho-actively occasionally that it should be banned. You will probably be far more likely to attract the police by planting okra, hibiscus or lupines - all perfectly legal, but people with vivid (or wishful) imaginations sometimes think their leaves resemble another banned plant. Some people even think that tomato leaves look like those illegal plants. Hopefully your local cops have more important things to do than to visit your flower garden and see if they can mis-identify some ornamental salvia that only distantly related to some other salvia. To be perfectly honest, if they are doing that, they'd probably be freaking out over mint, bee balm, cat nip, oregano and a bunch of other plants in the same broad plant family. Lynda

Okay, to sum up: Growing California poppies is perfectly legal, picking them on private property is also perfectly legal. The only pertinent CPC section anyone has been able to point to apart from CPC 384a which pertains to harvesting of plant material and leaf mold along highways. Someone speculated that some people were confused because opium poppies are illegal. Someone else observed that they are perfectly legal under at least some circumstances and that devolved into a general discussion about the confusing mash of state and federal law concerning the opium poppy. Ryan

Thank you for that link to the article and for putting it up on Gardenweb. It just might influence a few people who come by here not to purchase exotic wood flooring or raw lumber for stairs and cabinets. Sure the stuff is pretty, but so are some domestic species from sustainable sources. I personally won't sell or install the stuff. No one can give an assurance that the wood comes from legal sources and from areas that are not environmentally sensitive. Since they can't do that, I won't deal in the product. It was a business decision from day 1 and it hasn't affected my bottom line at all.

Shame on your Realtor. Here in VA it is illegal, but practiced. Shame on your Realtor for even hinting to contract B that you did that. Whoever she or he is should have inacted your contingency without divulging any information. The sellers would have been sour, but not threating to sue. The worst house B can do is cause a goodsized headache and loss of your E.money deposit. However if they choose to go that route, it is more of a headache for them. You can still purchase house A and move on. They will have to keep their property off the market while they fight you in court. They can not sell that house while trying to hold you to a contract. That of course could take months, hell years if you get a good attorney or know anything about law. If it is not illegal there and just an ethical issue, then they are fighting for nothing, because you have a contingency. With those it doesnt matter what the reason is, it is a way out. If it is Illegal, a judge will most likely not hold you to it. If on the off chance they do, you go after the Realtor Proffessional that recommended this strategy. All agents pay Errors and Omissions insurance, sounds like it would be put to good use for this screw up. In the future I wouldn't trust an agent that is so willing to do unethical things to help you purchase a house. Because that same unethical Realtor could keep information from you, so you will purchase the house. Unethical people don't care who they work for and whos interest they need to keep, as long as the money is in pocket at the end of the transaction. I know you want to purchase a home and after so many failed contracts, start to get desperate. But never, ever lower your morals, or ethics to get ahead. We teach our children that, so why is it so hard to follow as an adult. Goodluck. Edited-- had no idea the original post was from June. Could you please give an update with what happened? This post was edited by bungalowmonkeys on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 9:16