I have one bad experience that scared me even to this day. I ordered a plant online which turns out was from a licensed nursery in another state. The nursery shipped the plant without putting the certification in the box. They were threatening to fine me and were blaming me because I ordered the plant rather than them blaming the sender. Eventually they sent out someone that inspected my plant and that was it. Anyone else have any experiences?

Gosh no, I have only ordered a few times from out of state, I know one person had a certification in the box, maybe the all did, but I've never given it any thought. I always knew Citrus was a no no. That's really scary that you'd be the one in trouble, it does seem it should be the sender. Like you I had no idea about it, but I mostly buy from within the state.

Here's what I found on this, although I'm not in complete understanding, I'm glad you have mentioned this. Glad too all worked out for you.

https://www.fdacs.gov/Division...

Curious as to what plant was ordered.

I order plants from Hawaii regularly, and have had no issues whatsoever. I got water plants from Texas this spring, and order transplants from Burpee in Pennsylvania sometimes (if they're on sale!). No issues. I'm wondering too, what kind of plant was it that you ordered?

Thinking there are some states that have even stricter regulations regarding plants than Florida. Hawaii and California come to mind. So other than ordering from within the state, I'd advise you to order from Hawaii and California if you can to be sure not to get into trouble.

Don't forget that nurseries all over the country import tropical plants from overseas, along with their pests and pathogens. They do have to jump through the legal hoops to do this, so the plants are always inspected and certified. I can't understand why the Florida authorities even looked at your package.

It was a hybrid hibiscus i ordered from a nursery in nebraska.

That does sond strange.

Was the mailing package marked on the outside that it was a live plant? I'm just wondering how the Dept. of Agriculture knew after the package came to you, seems it would have been confiscated at the inspection station before reaching you.

I don't remember it having any mention of live plant. I would have thought as well that they would have taken it if it was a problem. I don't know how they tell if a plant is shipped. Does the post office contact them when a plant is shipped in state? They xray the boxes? I was wondering what treatment others have experienced though.

I have gotten live plants from out of state and they always have a certification sticker on the box. Any plant material coming into FL from out of state has to be certified insect and disease free. When we moved here I had all my plants certified beforehand. I did not stop at the iinspection station (which I should have) but I figured since I did have the certifications with me they wouldn't toss me in the hoosegow. I just felt better following the law - to a point. I did not bring any citrus.

I suspect an overzealous agent was the problem, perhaps a newbie on the job.

What I don't get is why all the nurseries do not put the inspection stickers on the box? I was interested in another hibiscus seller on eBay and asked them if they were licensed and they said yes, but they also said they do not put the sticker on the box.

eBay? That may be the issue. Certification certificates are expensive (I had to pay over $100) and most small nurseries do not do enough business to justify investing in it. Your larger nurseries get a blanket rate which is significantly less expensive.

Often a place or person will ship a plant in a plain box and get by with it but if they wrote something like "Live Plants" on the box it will alert the authorities and usually get confiscated.

Would that be 100 for the year with unlimited plants. Thks

Nope, that was just to keep me legal for the trip. I had the car loaded to the gill and there was no hiding the 60+ plants. The only reason I was bringing them was because most were hard to obtain, had been expensive or had sentimental value. I knew there was a chance, albeit slim, they could be confiscated without the paperwork. The Ag depts are short staffed these days and the inspector had to come to my house, a 3 hour trip each way, hence the high cost.

I used to be a nursery owner here in Florida. The ag rules are very strict. I had a 'general inspection' stamp that I had to use to stamp my boxes. I had a separate stamp that said I was cleared for the federal Imported Red Fireant Quarantine. But I did not have nematode certification, so, regardless of the fact that I was licensed, inspected and had stamps on the boxes, it was still illegal for me to mail some plants to some states. Those states were Hawaii, California, Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona. I could mail a few epiphytes (orchids, bromeliads) that had been grown in baskets off the ground, and unrooted bareroot cuttings of some (but not all) plants to certain states. But overall, I simply was unable to conduct any mailing to those 5 states. I had to put it out front that anyone living there should not order plants from me.

It is usually the sender who is the one who is held responsible for these infractions. The receiver is usually not, it the plant was, like a gift from a friend or something (many people use this to justify trading, which, if done over state lines, is largely actually illegal). But sometimes the receiver can also be blamed. All states have what is called 'reciprocity'. This means that if you have a nursery license in your state of residence, you do not have to pay the fee to have a license in the states you are sending to, as long as you meet all their legal requirements. Otherwise, every seller would have to hold a separate nursery license in every state they send to.
But with reciprocity comes a way to keep track of that. SO every state ag dept has an 'official list' of every single licensed inspected nursery in every single state, and you are listed by a letter as to the type of nursery you have and the types of inspections you have. A, B, C etc. Depending on which letter you have by your name determines what you can and cannot send, and to where. So they know what stamps you should put on your boxes.

So it is improbable that most people on ETSY and eBay are actually licensed inspected nurseries. Most are just people selling their extra plants or cuttings to make extra cash. Buying from them can be risky, in the respect that if they are caught shipping something, the plant can and will be confiscated and usually destroyed. If it happened to be a $300 cutting of a variegated Monstera, you are just out of luck, no plant no refund. But those folks who ARE licensed and inspected still may not have the right documents to send stuff into Florida. Which is what may have happened to your Nebraska place. They may have known they were not up to snuff to send plants here and that may be why they did not put their stamp on the box. Any nursery who will not label their boxes appropriately is not reputable IMHO.

Few people know that the penalties for illegal mailing of plant material over state lines can be as serious as a 3rd degree felony in some states. And fines for plants considered noxious weeds can be in the thousands of dollars.

your post just does not make sense. If the folks at the post office at any point thought the package coming to you was an issue, it would have been inspected/discarded ect and never delivered to you. The SENDER would have been fined for not complying with the states laws re shipping for nurseries ect. Not you.

However, AFTER, it was delivered to you, how then did they know they should not have delivered it to you? and how did they show up at your house? Also, why did you let them in to see anything? When weird strangers show up at my door demanding to see my personal belongings, they will be told to produce a warrant or leave my property. The entire scenario does not seem plausible unless I am missing something here.

@Frillilily I have never heard of that happening either. Usually if a package is going to be held for quarantine or destroyed, it is pulled at the point of entry into the state it if shipped to when it is first sorted or when it is first discovered in the shipping path. They used to use the 'beagle squads' here, at least in Miami, those dogs sniffed the mail and caught out illegal food, plants and drugs. Now they may randomly Xray things post 9/11. I don't know. But I too never heard of anyone coming to your house. Usually they send you a letter (if you are the SENDER) and detail what they did or intend to do....ie we seized your box at XX location on entry into XX state the contents were found to violate XX statute(s) the contents were either 1. destroyed 2. held for quarantine and released.

And if your violation was specific against certain statutes it delineated what you had violated and when the punishment would be (warning, fine, forfeiture of nursery license, court date)

I do know that there have been cases of people who buy illegal animal parts, feathers, and bones, especially from endangered species, who have been visited and the items confiscated and the person prosecuted. It is believed that you are just as guilty as the seller in that instance and should have known better. Just like for plants there are lists by state of what animal parts are legal to ship where and what is forbidden.

I do know that 10+ years ago, a guy in Texas was caught sending water lettuce through the mail. Water lettuce was illegal to have or to sell in Texas and the state he sent it to had also banned it as a noxious weed. He was fined $2200 PER PLANT for that mistake. That was a huge deal on forums back then, it was a very cautionary tale

Thank you Gina, that is very helpful information.