Buying Bulbs
 

Headed to the Netherlands next year and am wondering what the rules are on buying plant bulbs and bringing them back to the U.S.?

Can anyone help me with the answer to this or a link to the right place?

thanks!!!

unless you are a certified importer who does all the paperwork and inspections, I'm 90% certain that you can't bring back live plant products like bulbs.
Are you from the USA? Check the website for US Customs.

sorry, you did say you are from the US


www.customs.ustreas.gov

They sell bulbs at Schiphol Airport and in Amsterdam's flower market that are claimed to be certified OK for US Customs. But the bulbs you can buy there you'll probably find cheaper at home and forget about the hassle. It's kind of like those Dutch hothouse tomatoes that the local shop was selling for 99 cents a pound last winter - in Holland these would cost 2 or 3 times as much. But i believe you can import ones that are packaged with certification though i may be wrong.
Still seeking the black tulip - Dutch horticultural wonders are still trying to develop a truly black tulip - wonder if anyone knows the developments in this quest?

At Amsterdam's flower market, you don't usually take them with you. You pick out waht you want (they have EVERYTHING) and then they ship to you when it is the precise time to plant them (based upon your home address). They have it down to an exact science and you couldn't ask for a better system.

Bardo1 - thanks for that clarification - never bought bulbs at the market but saw signs saying approved bulbs - sounds like a nifty thing to do. Maybe Schiphol operates the same.

hmm I just got back from Amsterdam, each flower market has a section that offers certified bulbs, ie you can bring in to the USA and you don't need to declare. I got 3 packs ranging from 3.5E to 5E each. I picked up those that are rare and expensive to find in USA - how did I know? Because my mother's passion is flowers and I knew which ones are rare here etc. So no they are not overpriced and no you cannot find all of those bulbs here in the USA. G'luck! I didn't declare them and didn't have any problems bringing in these bulbs through customs. (handbaggage)

I stand corrected, good info

we bought bulbs at kuenkenhof gardens last spring. they will ship them to you at the appropriate time of year for planting - ours should arrive within a couple of weeks. There are a few that are marked, inspected, etc and can be brought back into the states but must have that sticker on the box. we brought back a beautiful amaryllis. the vendors at kukenhof were extremely helpful and not pushy. However, they are only open for a couple of months each year. The flower markets around the villages may also have bulbs that you can bring back but make sure they are inspected and sealed with the customs stickers.

yes and if you just tell them that you're taking it back to USA they will guide you toward the section with the custom stickers....they're pretty good about that - don't try to trick you or anything. :)

Even though certified flower bulbs are allowed into the US, that doesn't mean you don't have to declare them. Since the customs form you complete asks if you are bringing in any plant material, your answer would be "yes"

Authoritative info from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/clearing
_goods/agri_prod_inus.xml

If you go to any of the major flower markets you will see bulbs marked for export to the US. I'm not sure what they do to them (pasteurize? use anitseptics???) but I've brought them back (declared) several times and it was fine.

Just make sure it says approved for import to the US on the package.

Thanks everyone! Great info - you all are so wise! :-)

We bought bulbs in holland, planted them, watched them begin to bloom, and then they became deer fodder.

My first trip to Europe when I was in college many years ago, I carried Holland bulbs through 7 countries only to have to toss them when the ship landed in NYC b/c of customs regulations.

Just got back Sat. night from Amsterdam bringing half a dozen packages of bulbs I got at the Bloemenmarkt. I declared them and was waved through without a question, though I did note that they had health certificates on my declaration.

About 2/3s of the vendors have racks labeled for the bulbs certified for taking into the US and Canada, though the selection is nothing like as large as with the non-certified bulbs. If you don't find them, ask. Between the plastic bag with the bulbs and the cardboard backing there is a health certificate. But note - which I didn't until after I bought them - that the health certificates are dated. Mine all had 6 weeks before expiration but I suppose you could buy some without enough time for you to get them home.

I paid between 3 and 4 Euros for a pack of 10, though there were some higher. Since I live in FL and we can't grow them here, I have no idea what the usual cost is in the US, what varities are unusual, etc. (These are for my daughter in NC.) The problem I had is that I wanted iris and other bulbs besides tulips and found only one person selling those that were certified. And not a large selection. The prices on the non-certified bulbs are way cheaper.

I do have a package of black tulips. So it says. So the picture shows. I'm be interested in hearing from my daughter just what they look like when they bloom.

Black tulips? Centuries-old search for black tulips finally solved? Great news!

Be sure to check the date on the US certified bulbs. We had about 50% of our bulbs confiscated in customs because they were 3 days "over due". It has been several years but if I remember correctly, the certification is good for 1 year after the date on the little US certified sticker.

What time of year do they send them? I am going tomorrow, but do not think it is the proper time to buy them any hints? I bought some 20 years ago in Holland and they are still beautiful!!!
Connie

PalenqueBob---I answered a bit about the black tulips on the other thread. They are actually a deep, deep purple. The quest for a "true black" in flowers has been most successful in the black pansy, which is grown from seed, and thus has some inherent variability. However, many of them do indeed appear a true black in most light.

Connie,

When they send them depends upon the zip-code they ship to (e.g. they would ship to Georgia later than they would would ship to Vermont). At any rate, don't expect them to show up on your doorstep until fall.

I took bulbs back from Amsterdam to Ireland last month. I'm not sure what the regulations are in the US but in Ireland you can take bulbs in once they have no soil attached.

Thank you all so much!! I live in NY, so I would be earlier in the fall I guess.

We ordered bulbs at Keukenhof and they shipped them the following Fall. Any bulbs you bring back in the spring are not going to be in the best shape.

There are many forms of deer repellant available at garden centers or online.

Some of them are pre-marked on the container as being fit for importation into the US. I brought some home from Amsterdam, no sweat.

My daughter recently sent pictures of the bulbs I brought her from the Bloomenmarkt last fall. (None for me, I live in FL.) She said that they all did well, were large and healthy. Others she bought locally (in NC) didn't do as well, many didn't even bloom. So I am supposed to get her more when I'm back in Amsterdam again this Sept.

BTW, her "black" tulips were more of a deep wine-y red, not so purple. Maybe more of an interesting conversation piece but not so showy as the brighter colors. So her order is for yellow and red this time.

When we visited Keukenhof a few years ago in May, a lady there told us when we asked about buying bulbs, that the "best bulbs are in the ground now." She suggested that we order them and have them delivered to the U.S. I am sorry to say that we didn't order any that time, but hope to return soon and do it then. Hope this helps.

i luvs2travel -- I hate to tell you this, but most of the bulbs that are grown in the Netherlands now originate in the United States.

I grew up for a good portion of my life in the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle Washington -- and had a job with Washington Bulb Co.

The local pride by the local Dutch-descended farmers is that they grow the bulbs, harvest them and ship them to Holland. Seriously.

I wouldn't pay $5 Euro for a pack of bulbs I could get from the States, it's like buying a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle wine in France, when you could buy it in Washington State where it came from for half the price.

Jules

I bought some bulbs from the market in Amsterdam when I was backpacking in my YOUTH (1990). They still bloom proudly every spring (unlike some that we buy here that stop blooming after a few years). My Mom is moving house now so I guess I will have to go back and get her some more!!!!

Bulbs brought back into the US must have an inspection sticker and not be over 6 weeks since inspection. Be sure to buy your bulbs before you get to the airport as they are almost double the flower market price.

Best yet buy those same Dutch bulbs at your local gardening center probably at prices cheaper than in Holland.

Like Dutch hothouse tomatoes which often sell for as low as 99 cents a pound in the US in winter but about three times that in Holland for those same to-mah-tows and forget about any hassles with customs.

Certainly mail order direct from Holland can get you any bulb you'd find there.

If bent on buying there wait until the airport and buy guaranteeably certfied OK bulbs there.

I bought bulbs at the Bloemenmarkt in Amsterdam that were said to be approved to take to the US. US Agriculture took them away from me in Philadelphia as they failed to have a special small metal tag on the bag that shows up in their security scanner. I wish I hadn't been so honest by declaring them.

If you don't declare them however you could be sniffed out by the food-smelling beagle brigade, which i often see at my airport Customs arrivals sniffing bags.

I once landed with a carrot in my bag and i took it out and was eating it - knowing it would not be allowed in and the beagle came and plopped his/her head right on my daypack on the floor and wouldn't budge. The Customs guy asked me if i had any vegetables and i pointed to the carrot i was eating. Though no longer in the bag the beagle was smelling its presence. I had to go to a special room where they put my bags thru machines to detect any other vegetable matter - none was found but who knows i may have ended up on some list of vegetable smugglers. Not worth it not to declare IMO.

Since you paid money for them I thought you have to declare them as part of your Customs declaration whether they are bulbs or not... am I incorrect about this?

You need not declare items individually if you are under the overall limit - just a lump sum estimate of what you sent. But there is a box on the entry form asking whether you are carrying vegetable/plant/meat or not. Apparently the beagles i was met with once were really looking for meat for the main part and i read many Italians have hidden sausages taken away.

We just returned from AMS and bought bulbs from the floating flowermarket with the US approval seal and also a bag from the airport right past immigration point (they were more expensive than in town). We declared our bulbs and went thru agriculture check. The officers checked our bulbs and said that the US approval seal has to be less than 6 weeks old (the bulbs that I bought in the AMS airport was dated 8 weeks ago- so 2 weeks past due).. but he was very kind and let us pass thru.

We bought some beautiful black tulips that I plan to get in the ground right away and hope that they bloom in the spring.

Ummh...black tulips - defies the notion i've heard that the finest Dutch horticulturalists have yet to produce a truly black tulip - so far elusive though some do look black. I may be wrong but i believe genuine black tulips still don't exist.