And I knew better.....WARNING

[Country Gramma]

Did they give a reason for taking it. Did it need to be quarantined or was it endangered??? LOL

Maybe we should just be glad it ended well for you.

Karen

[vmax3000]

Hi Joe,
I, too, was stunned that they went after a hybrid at first. The agent was mostly, in this case, concerned with the facts that the plant could have borne an uninvited passenger and that it was mislabled and without the appropriate content declaration. I get the feeling that the seller might have done this very thing, before. All living things coming in from Asia (according to the paperwork she left for me) might harbor the Asian longhorned beetle, which is a threat to certain American hardwood trees according to this link: Asian Longhorned Beetle - UVM Entomology Research Laboratory
As much as I cringed about having the USDA on my doorstep and destroying a plant, I would HATE to be the origin of an infestation. And, I am very fond of the live oaks in my yard.

[peeweelovesbooks]

I thought you had to get an export permit from the originating country as well as an import permit from the USA?

[vmax3000]

Originally Posted by Country Gramma

Did they give a reason for taking it. Did it need to be quarantined or was it endangered??? LOL

Maybe we should just be glad it ended well for you.

Karen

Okay, me being smarmy alert. It might have been more endangered in my care!

Connie,
If the plants come with paper work, I would say take 'em if you can get 'em! If this guy had not lied on the package or had filed the paperwork, I might have a cute, healthy addition to my greenhouse....and I am always up for another plant...like I have room.

[Gin]

I know the temptations of e bay. I have looked at a picture and thought gimmie gimmie then noticed they were not in the USA .. bummer thanks for the warning it is appreciated ..

[fotofashion]

I guess it is time for my confession regarding this subject.
Back in the summer, on eBay, I won some Blood Lily bulbs from a grower in Thailand. At the same time I bought two Rhyncostylus seedlings from him. He told me there would be no problems with the bulbs but he could not get an APHIS permit for the orchids. He said he would send everything together but at my risk. Well, everything did arrive. I guess the inspectors took for granted that all there was in the package was the bulbs. The story does not have a happy ending, however. Both of the orchid plants eventually died. They were tiny things in thumb pots. I sunburned one of them right off and the other hung on for several months but it, too, sucumbed. Lesson: Even if you can get the plants, legally or not, there is no guarantee they will survive-your bad culture or the long trip.
Beverly A.

[Connie Star]

Originally Posted by vmax3000

Okay, me being smarmy alert. It might have been more endangered in my care!

Connie,
If the plants come with paper work, I would say take 'em if you can get 'em! If this guy had not lied on the package or had filed the paperwork, I might have a cute, healthy addition to my greenhouse....and I am always up for another plant...like I have room.

I might do that. They are very very careful about their endemic plants and animals. Those little plants I left behind did have lots of paperwork and I imagine I could have gotten them back home. Anyway, I'm going again on Dec 31 so I think I will bring 1-2 back to see how they fare both going thru customs and in my care. Mostly I'll just take lots of photos.

[cb977]

When I do my ebay searches, I always scroll down on the left side of the page and choose "US Only" as a search option.

I do it from more of a "Buy American" standpoint but it does cut out the possibilities of problems like the ones in this thread

I still can't get over the agents showing up at your house, Vanessa!

[etex]

Wow! What a huge heads-up! I have just started buying from Ebay. Thanks for the tips!!

[boytjie]

This brings back some horrible memories of importing a few of my bonsais from South Africa in 2001, when I left that country to move back to the U.S.

I had four trees, all native South African species (Ficus); the SA government didn't require an export permit, but boy did the USDA make me jump through hoops! The permit paperwork took four months, and cost nearly $300 for all four trees. Regulations stipulated that they had to be brought into the U.S. bare-root, wrapped in newspaper... and this was in January. I flew with the trees in a box in the aircraft cabin. My port of entry was JFK Airport in New York, and I had to hand over the container to the USDA as soon as I went through customs. I had to stay in the New York City area for 24 hours while the trees were inspected and fumigated, then make my way back to JFK to collect them the next day.

They were finally released to me with metal tags on them, and I was informed that they had to be kept in quarantine (away from any other house plants) for a full calendar year. Over the course of that year, a USDA inspection agent drove out once every quarter from Albany to Syracuse to make sure the plants were still in quarantine, and not showing any signs of pests or disease.

One tree died fairly quickly, unable to deal with the stress and climate change, but the other three have adapted, and nine years later they are doing quite well.