Re: agapanthus africanus

Jerry Heverly wrote:
> 
> A customer in my nursery in Alamo, California (25 mi. east of San
> Francisco) inquired about how to ship Agapanthus africanus to France.  She
> said she'd never seen the plant there.  I was uneasy, imagining that she'd
> smuggle the rhizomes in her baggage and thus transport some terrible
> pathogen to Europe, all because of me.  I said I'd find out if A.a. is
> grown in France.  Can anyone advise?

 Jerry 

Having worked in Plant Protection back in the dark ages I can echo your
concern about any amateur trying to send plant material other than seeds
from one country to another without expert help. People simply don't
realize the environmental hazards of such things as small amounts of
adhering soil, unnoticed disease symptoms (especially viruses) and
hidden insects or insect eggs.

 Even when sent by legitimate exporters with all precautions many
countries also insist on  a period of strict quarantine before the
plants are released to their new owners.

Fortunately plants sent openly through the post without proper
preparation and documentation are commonly intercepted by customs, but
there is always the chance of the odd parcel eluding their vigilance and
causing yet another hazard to the local plant populations. And of
course, some people do manage to get away with smuggling. I remember
when I was working in Kenya (50 years ago) we were trying to keep out
Tomato Spotted Wilt virus and one of our worst problems was people
trying to smuggle in new Dahlia bulbs. They tried all sorts of lurks,
such as putting them in sponge bags and one lady even had some in her
bra!!! Up to the time I left we had been successful, but with such
misplaced ingenuity I guess it was only a matter of time...

It is somewhat ironic that in this case the Agapanthus is already a
commonplace in France anyway. Possibly the parts your customer is
familiar with simply have an unsuitable climate.

Moira

-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, 
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
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