Angela in Australia wrote: >I have some seeds of hosta ventricosa >and mirabilis jalapa ( marvel of peru) >to give away. I will send via PBS, if ok to send to the USA, also some >bulbs of hippeastrum. As of May 15 new regulations regarding importation of small lots of seed will go into effect in the USA. Joyce Fingerut of NARGS, who has been instrumental in getting these new regulations through the bureaucracy, has written a detailed article on the subject for the summer 2006 issue of the Rock Garden Quarterly. I (editor of that journal) can send a copy privately (NOT FOR REPRODUCTION) before the issue appears to foreign seed donors who need it. The gist, however, is that the IMPORTER (e.g., Dell Sherk of the PBS exchange) needs to get a permit to import "small lots of seed," and will also receive a supply of labels which have to be sent to the sender for pasting on the parcel. The parcel must contain an alphabetized list of the contents. Presently the USA does not have a "white list" as Australia does; the list is used to identify "black list" items, such as the whole genus Lathyrus. Jane McGary Editor, NARGS