Are MGs prohibited in AZ and AK?

I remember seeing something about this in an old thread or somewhere. Is this really true? If so, is it just certain mg cultivars or ALL mgs?

If so, is it illegal to send seeds to someone living in either of those states?

The plant police will get you.....LOL!
Technically I think they plants or seeds aren't supposed to cross the state line.

This IS for real????? You got to be kidding me! What kind of "fine" are we talking about for this infraction?

And I think Arkansas is "AR" not AK, right? lol

This message was edited Oct 25, 2007 7:46 PM

Maybe this will help? I just saw this in the seed trading forum today.

Link to the USDA. They've got the links for every state prohibited plants.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxComposite?stateRpt=yes

Thanks, Susy!

This is what is says for AZ that are Prohibited, Regulated, and Restricted Noxious Weeds:
PROHIBITED:
Convolvulus arvensis L. -- Field bindweed,
Ipomoea spp. -- Morning glory. All species except Ipomoea carnea, Mexican bush morning glory; Ipomoea triloba, three-lobed morning glory (which is considered a restricted pest); and Ipomoea aborescens, morning glory tree,
Ipomoea triloba L. – Three-lobed morning glory,

And for AR:
They are listed as a noxious weed, but not listed on the PROHIBITED list.

Can't find what the fine would be for AZ.

Glad to help-when I saw that link I saved it for myself-nice to be able to use it the very same day!
You probably don't want to know what the fines are. Here in WA they can go as high as $5000

Ouch!!! Thanks for the warning, Susy!!! :-)

the seeds will be destroyed or sent back if customs opens them, but that usually occurs in international shipments, not domestic mail. I wouldnt worry about a "fine," its not worth the time and effort to find you, seriously. (unless you were smuggling like 10 kilos of seed lol!)

I noticed that some seed seller websites say that they cannot ship to AZ.

Joanne

I have sent many Morning Glory seeds to AZ.
They are SO backwards in that state, not to mention they don't have a clue about Morning Glories - AND they think that ALL Morning Glories are invasive *ha*

Emma

The laws restricting the seeds are some of the most profoundly ridiculous unscientific nonsense that I have encountered...apparently written in the 1930's to address the difficulties encountered by cotton farmers...

Ipomoea triloba is very invasive and usually brought into the states by contaminated agricultural(!) supplies,...so fining the agricultural industry who brings the majority of the seeds in wouldn't quite do...

The vast majority of species bothersome to agriculture are in fact brought into the agricultural fields by tainted agricultural seed supplies and directly sowed by the agicultural methodology...

The species that are bothersome to agriculture have spread FROM agricultural fields into non-agricultural areas...rarely the other way around...despite 'passing the buck'...

It strains reason to think that ultra-rare species that are bona fide natives of Arizona would be prohibited from conservation gardening by individuals...

Agricultural organizations provide funding directly and indirectly to Universities and other 'ostensibly objective' professional entities to perform studies and the results sought are known in advance by both parties...if results other than what the funding source wants to see are concluded >further funding will be re-directed to more 'co-operative' 'professionals'...nobody likes to have their funding reduced...

Guess who funds directly or indirectly the invasive exotics studies...the major chemical(!) manufacturers...poisonous herbicides(often deadly to native bio-systems and to humans) are used routinely in vast quantities by agriculture to combat the ever growing list of invasive exotics...little regard has traditionally been shown on the health effects that herbicides have on native plants,animals and/or people...hence phoney-baloney regard for the green earth by big business...good public relations front at best...

Always trace the source of the monies involved if you want to find out the Truth and who is really calling the shots...

Ron

I think you are right about the monies, Ron. When the walls came down between East and West Germany, I travelled to Romania with some friends. Boy, I tell you (or holy cow as Becky would say) I had never seen plum trees with branches full of plums bent to the ground with the sheer weight of the fruit, and anything they had in their gardens looked so healthy. They did not use any chemistry or artificial fertilizers... That was the first time when I started seriously doubting "the blessings" of the chemical industry...I also read a very interesting article on DDT and how spider mite reacted to the poison by producing more females that layed more eggs...

Ron - Thanks for the info and food for thought. I didn't know, but I am also NOT surprised who is behind the Agricultural organizations. It figures! No real surprise there. The biggest threat to our natural environment is and always will be humans!

Martin - That's a really interesting story about east and west Germany and the plum trees. Fascinating!

This message was edited Oct 27, 2007 9:25 AM

Becky, like Ron said, its a very outdated law. Most of the nurseries are aware of it and remove the packets from seed shipments but I find seeds every year at Albertsons or Walmart. One of the oldest nurseries in Phoenix one year gave me some packets. Said they couldn't sell them so just gave them to me.

Ron's right about chasing the money. Still, there are plants that have legitimately caused huge problems-mainly because someone didn't think about systems needing to be in balance (Maybe they were thinking only of the bottom line?) For instance, Kudzu, Tamarisk/Salt Cedar. Then, in my neck of the woods we've got Himalayan Blackberry and English Ivy. There's also a native blackberry here. They've discovered the Himalayan (which was brought in for cultivation in the '20-30's, by the way-and they do have great berries-huge!) does not have as deep a root system as the native. It outcompetes the native but does not stabilize slopes as well, so there's more erosion and hillside collapse-which is hidden by the huge vines. These things can grow big enough to completely cover cars-and they do it fast, and they're hard to kill. Its nickname is PNW Kudzu. Yellow flag Iris is also crowding lots of waterways and wetlands and degrading habitat here.

There are some plants on banned lists that should be banned. Kudzu is on the banned list here in WA-that doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. Some plants are garden thugs that have escaped cultivation and are now taking over. But, even here in WA there are some that are listed just to get funds to do weed removal on public lands-and they basically tell you that in the descriptions.

It seems to me that as a responsible gardener I need to be aware of what my location is trying to control so I at least understand what I'm doing. Realistically, I think the likelihood of being caught by the "Plant police" for what you've got growing on a typical city lot-or even an acre or two- is extremely unlikely (OK, unless maybe you're growing Hemp's infamous big brother.....).

Will I grow stuff on the WA banned list? Probably not, but that's my choice. (NO MG on the list here except for field bindweed....) I am lucky, though, in that WA is nice enough to do a booklet on alternatives to invasive plants for gardeners. They show the "problem" plant and then pictures and descriptions of several alternatives that aren't a problem, which I think is a neat thing to do.

Thanks y'all for all the wonderful information and opinions!

I do find the AZ prohibited plant list with just about ALL MGs listed on it to be a bit overboard. What I was trying to figure out was whether to share some MG seeds with someone who lives in AZ. I am not in a position to pay a $5,000 fine if the the "mail police" intercept my bubble envie. I can't imagine not being able to grow some of these beautiful MGs. Being a newbie, I am trying to discern information of fiction from fact.