Is It Illegal...

[Deborah]

Is it illegal to mail plants if you are not a nursery?
I would love to get common comfrey if it's not illegal and someone has it.

[Cole_Robbie]

It depends upon the law of the state you live in as well as the law of the state you mail the plants to.

[kurt]

Fruits and Vegetables
Bringing home fruits and vegetables can be quite troublesome. That apple you bought in the foreign airport just before boarding and then didn't eat? Whether Customs will allow it into the United States depends on where you got it and where you're going after you arrive in the United States. The same is true for those magnificent Mediterranean tomatoes. Fresh fruits and vegetables can carry plant pests or diseases into the United States.

You may remember the Med fly hysteria of the late 1980s: Stories about crop damage caused by the Mediterranean fruit fly were in the papers for months. The state of California and the federal government together spent some $100 million to get rid of this pest. And the source of the outbreak? One traveler who brought home one contaminated piece of fruit.

It's best not to bring fresh fruits or vegetables into the United States. But if you plan to, call APHIS and get a copy of Traveler's Tips, which lists what you can and can't bring, and also items for which you'll need a permit. For more information, visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/travel/ or www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/permits.

Plants
The plants, cuttings, seeds, unprocessed plant products, and certain endangered species that are allowed into the United States require import permits; some are prohibited entirely. Threatened or endangered species that are permitted must have export permits from the country of origin.

Every single plant or plant product must be declared to the Customs officer and must be presented for USDA inspection, no matter how free of pests it appears to be. Address requests for information to USDA-APHIS-PPQ, 4700 River Road, Unit 139, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; phone (301) 734-8295; or visit www.aphis.usda.gov/travel/. If it is from out of the country you need phytosanitary certificates and or import license.At the airport or border upoun entry you have to declare it and customs officer make the decisions.

[Stvrob]

Does anyone remember the days when they had traffic stops to see if you where transporting any illegal plant materials?

[ScottinAtlanta]

Sure, in Atlanta today they do random stops and sniff for illegal cannabis.

[delltraveller]

Kurt, I think Deborah is talking about within the continental United States, not outside the country.

Deborah, you'll want to check your state's list of invasive plant species to see if comfrey is on it. It is a pretty hardy plant and it spreads with a great deal of vigor, so in the milder California weather it might be a troublemaker.

[casino]

Comfrey plants can be found in many seed catalogs. If you purchase the plant from a seed catalog that is certified to ship, there should be no problems. Having a friend who lives in another state ship a cutting to you then there may be problems, not recomended. Your next choice is to grow your own from seed, its easy. I can buy comfrey seeds off the rack in my local nursery.

[habitat_gardener]

In my experience, comfrey does not thrive in California's dry summers if it's unwatered. I water sparingly and it's one of the first plants in my garden to wilt. But where it is watered, next to a hose bib, I get 50-100 flowering stems 2-3 times a year. I know that because I cut it back to make comfrey tea for my plants, to mulch other plants, or to add to the compost pile as is. It does not reseed in my garden.

I have sent comfrey cuttings to Colorado. All it takes is a 4-inch section of root. When I dug up cuttings to send, I potted up the root hairs as well, and those became plants! So it's best to plant it in a spot where you will alway want to have comfrey, though I have heard that persistent and heavy sheet mulching will discourage it.

I have about 5 clumps of comfrey, and only one of them seems to be spreading. Last year it had a small clump a foot away from the main clump. The others are staying contained, though that may be because they are not getting enough water to expand.

[Deborah]

I'm planning to grow it in a pot. Since we're both in California can I get some from you?

[Heritage]

Deborah,

If the plant is shipped from outside of California it will require a Certificate of Inspection from the shipper. This is not necessary if the grower/shipper is from California.

I think Casino's suggestion (to grow your own from seed) is the probably the best solution if the shipper is out of state.

Steve

Edit:

Seems I cross posted...

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Deborah

I'm planning to grow it in a pot. Since we're both in California can I get some from you?

PM sent.

When I've grown it in a 5-gallon container, comfrey has stayed fairly small. One of the benefits of growing comfrey is that its deep roots bring minerals to the surface; in a container, it can't do that.

[Gavriil]

gffluygf;igh;oh'o

[Gavriil]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Does anyone remember the days when they had traffic stops to see if you where transporting any illegal plant materials?

Fruit.
Sure back when I was a kid in the fifties in California.
When ever we went across the state line, they didn't seem to be to strict then.
I vaguely recall we had some one time but they didn't say nothing or didn't inspect to hard.

[Crandrew]

They still do going into California.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Sure, in Atlanta today they do random stops and sniff for illegal cannabis.

Good one Scott.