Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - TULIP BULB WARNING!

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TULIP BULB WARNING!

Beware purchasing tulip bulbs in The Netherlands that you plan to bring back to the U.S. The USDA has a NEW certification that is not necessary being used by the people who are selling the bulbs. I was being very cautious and purchased bulbs at "safe" places (i.e., the flower auction, the airport)- questioned the sellers as to their being USA improved - but lo and behold - these were seized at my point of entry here in the U.S. Not only am I out $50, I am empty-handed for gifts I intended to bring back. The USDA inspector said that the Dutch have been informed numerous times about the new certification, but are ignoring it. A word to the wise!

I just have to ask: so how many USDA inspectors did it take to change a tulip bulb? :) Best wishes, Rex

Und Dank yu vel, tu yu tu, Gretchen...

Just don't trade your house for a tulip bulb as many people did in the 17th century.

Checked this morning at the flower market in Delft and the bulb sellers said they hadn't heard anything about a new certification. They give the same inspection sticker to US-bound customers as they've always given. Can anyone find out anything more about this new USDA ruling?

Lynn, Why did you make up this story? It's a total lie, what do you have against NL?

Still hoping someone will explain what USDA certification means.

Absolutely DO NOT purchase any flower bulbs, tulips or others, even at the airport if you intend to bring them to the USA. We were extremely cautious - we only would purchase them past passport control for flights to the USA. Still, the same thing happened to us on 08/16 that happpened to Lynn (see first message in this thread). For the information of everyone, I now have the entire scoop. The seller was in the area of Schiphol Terminal 3 past the non-EU passport control and steps away from the "G" gates used by all US flag carriers. This seller said that flower bulbs not approved for the USA couldn't be sold there. WRONG! Every certification I saw bore a generic label, entitled "CERTIFICATION OF INSPECTION, Plant Protection of the Netherlands" with 7 numbered statements. This had been acceptable through last year, but is no longer acceptable by itself (since 22 January 2002) for entry to the USA. According to the USDA information I received, at Customs, here is what you MUST have: 1. The above mentioned certificate, but it must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certicate issued by the Netherlands. 2. A certificate entitled "COPY-CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION FOR U.S.A." with 5 numbered statements and signed "The Director of the Plant Services of the Netherlands". 3. A NUMBERED and DATED label, entitled "CERTIFICATE OF INSPECTION, Plant Protection Service of the Netherlands, To: Plant Protection Service of the United States of America or Canada". It has eight numbered statements and has a Date of Issue on the bottom, with a statement that the certificate expires two weeks after the date of issue. We had looked at a number of flower stores in both the EU section and the non-EU section of Schiphol and only found the first certificate mentioned without any accompanying phytosanitary statement. Based on this, I don't believe any flower bulbs for sale at Schiphol are acceptable for import to the USA. Hope this helps. Eric

Eric - Thanks so much for the info.! We are going to the Netherlands next month, and I was hoping to bring back bulbs as gifts. Now at least I know what to look for, and hopefully, providing I can even find anything that meets all of those requirements, I won't have my gifts confiscated before I get them home.

I live in Washington State and we have a large tulip industry here. My cousin ordered tulip bulbs from a catalog of the Netherlands so that she could get authentic Dutch tulip bulbs. When the order was delayed, she called the Netherlands to see what was going on. She was told that they were having trouble getting the bulbs from their supplier; a tulip farmer in Skagit Valley Washington, just 10 miles down the road from my cousin's house!

Does anyone have an update on this I was looking at several stalls in Amsterdam that said they were good for import with stamps but the stamps said good for 6 weeks not the 2 mentioned here. Any help?

My friend and I bought bought $60 worth of bulbs at the Keukenhoff Gardens to be shipped to our homes at the correct planting time. (We were there in May and the correct time to plant was Sept.) Our bulbs arrived in Sept, we planted them (we live about 50 miles apart) and eagerly awaited spring . . . nothing, zip, nada. Not a single one of my bulbs or hers came up. We both are gardeners and have great luck with plants. We both wrote letters to the gardens with no response. So, it appears it may be better to just buy your bulbs in your hometown nurseries. Sandy

To Sandy: Have you checked whether the bulbs were still in the ground? Once I planted 300 bulbs, the squirrels ate more than half of them.

To Judy, No, I haven't checked to see but I'll do it today! The bulbs we bought were supposed to be resistant to rodents and deer . . . they had some kind of natural odor that repelled them . . . they smelled kinda like a skunk. In fact, our instructions said we could plant them between Sept-Dec but they smelled so bad in the garage that we planted them immediately! Thanks for the tip, Sandy

Just thought I would add a tip about planting bulbs. Learned this from my mother, as she plants garlic in the early fall at her summer home in Maine, and there are plenty of deer and squirrels that are around seeking food. After you plant the bulbs, if you cover the area with a layer of coffee grounds (about 1" deep), it will keep the animals away from your garden beds. Also, around the beds, build a protective wall of coffee grounds. My mother saves coffee grounds all summer just to protect her garlic garden from the deer, etc. Don't know if this works with flavored coffee grounds, but it does work with caffeinated and decaffeinated plain old coffee.

Any update on this topic? I am going on Monday and need an update.

This reminds me of that old Jim Reeves song "He'll Have To Go" when he sings, "Put your tulips a little closer to the phone...."

Sorry, but it is Friday.
((H))

We were at the flower market in Amsterdam in June. We picked up bulbs and the man directed us to other packets that said US approved with certificate. They were about one Euro more. FYI, No one checked our bulbs at customs,despite the fact that we recorded them on the customs form.