Re: HYB: importing breeding stock?

Linda Mann wrote:

How much trouble and expense is it to mail seeds between US & Oz?
Expense - very little. As to trouble - it depends on what mood customs is in (and what condition the seeds are in). Theoretically, bearded iris seeds should get through customs okay if they are labelled on the outside of the packet with the type of iris background species, e.g. if seeds from Tall Bearded crosses are labelled as Iris germanica hybrids, there should be no problem. Customs are only concerned with the species background, as that is what they can look up on their database.
Certainly, getting bearded iris seeds into Australia is a cinch compared to the difficulty and expense of importing rhizomes.
Barry Blyth and Keith Keppel are now visiting each other's gardens each year to make crosses, then when the seeds are ripe, they are mailed to their hybridizer. It's a nice way to fit in two spring bloom seasons a year. :-)
Maybe that would be a way to access some genes without having to import the plants?
Yes, it is a good way to do that - provided that you have friends who grow the plants you are interested in, and are able and willing to go to the trouble of making the crosses for you (if you can't afford the airfare to visit the other hemisphere yourself).
Then again, without the parents before our eyes, it's hard to be sure what would fit the best with our various breeding programs....
Yes, it is.....and hard to guarantee that they would bloom at compatible times, or have the requisite pod / pollen fertility, etc. 

But still a worthwhile idea.

Ann
South Australia 
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