Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I can see that this will be quite a challenge! But isn't every worthwhile effort a challenge? I wrote to Mr Lyman yesterday. Keep all your good advice coming, John were would I get the necessary papers to place an order with the UK from you? Sounds like it's worth a shot. Kevin Sent from my iPhone On Jun 19, 2011, at 7:13 AM, John Grimshaw <j.grimshaw@virgin.net> wrote: > As Jane McGary says, the biggest problem in getting Galanthus into North > America is the paperwork and bureaucracy required. We (Colesbourne Gardens > http://www.snowdrop.org.uk/) are one of the few UK suppliers to export snowdrops (as > dormant bulbs, the only time we move them) to North America and it is a > matter for major stress. The paperwork for each consignment is massive, but > the worst part is not knowing whether the parcels will be inspected by > British customs on the way out, and the CITES licences stamped properly: we > have had great problems because this has not happened in the past. > > It's not surprising that some people choose the easy route and smuggle them > in, but CITES has teeth in international law (think ivory, rhino horn, > orchids) and there are potential phytosanitary consequences of unchecked > material, so we do it the hard way. > > John Grimshaw > > > > Visit John Grimshaw's Garden Diary > http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com/ > > Dr. John M. Grimshaw > Sycamore Cottage > Colesbourne > Cheltenham > Gloucestershire > GL53 9NP > > Tel. 01242 870567 > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net> > To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 5:32 PM > Subject: Re: [pbs] rare/specialty forms of galanthus > > >> Kevin wrote >>> Dear Fellow Bulb Fanatics- >>> >>> GALANTHUS >>> >>> Subject line says it. >>> Seems they are difficult to locate in the states. Any suggestions >>> or better to offer? Would like to get some soon. >>> > w >> are convinced that this is a myth that began when we didn't have the >> ability to store the dormant bulbs properly and ship them quickly. >> When I was selling bulbs I always sent my Galanthus bulbs dormant in >> late summer, packed in barely moist vermiculite, and I've received >> healthy bulbs from the UK and Latvia at this stage also. It also >> means much less expense! We may hear from Galanthus expert John >> Grimshaw soon on this topic. >> >> Though I'm no galanthophile (snowdrop fanatic), we do have a few here >> in the Pacific Northwest and it's likely that we'll slowly build up a >> community stock of select varieties that will eventually be >> disseminated. One problem is that the genus Galanthus is CITES >> controlled (because of harvesting in the wild in Turkey) and >> therefore very expensive to import: each listed genus in an order >> requries a separate, costly CITES permit, even if the material being >> shipped is a named variety that's been propagated in gardens for a >> century. >> >> Jane McGary >> Portland, Oregon, USA >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/