Oops I just went to look at my invoice and she is actually selling Old Blush 3 for $5.

Hi Lucille - I got a band of Belinda's Dream and the three Old Blush Starts form that vendor too. The BD was a very large size and the 3 Old Blush were small but very nice starts! Very full & healthy. Got them last Fall and they're doing great! I also was crazy and just got the Kordes Circus Roses from a vendor. They had really hard to find perennials that I wanted, so on a whim I got the Circus roses at 4$ - 3$ and the cream one for 6$. (The cream one looks very pretty) They combined shipping & it was very inexpensive. They look own-root and are a large size. Just starting to bud out.

Do they come with inspection certificates if they're from states with Japanese Beetles, Fire Ants, midge, chili thrips or Oak Root fungus? (Among other diseases that so far are regional)

The Kordes Vendor order came with certificates & stamps,(Very professional) but not the other ones. I will watch them closely and keep them in a quarantine area.
How long before I know if they have anything weird? They are very healthy. They came from Florida.

I just ordered them, I haven't got them, but the vendor seems very professional

Florida has Chili Thrips?

Jeri

Florida has Chili Thrips and Fire Ants. And the larvae of chili thrips could be in among the roots.

I would think if it were a serious inquiry, the inquirer would have found the vendor and asked herself.

Many eBay sellers do not have a nursery license, and therefore do not meet the criteria to legally ship plants of any kind to many states. Licensed nurseries must conduct annual inspections for insects and pathogens regarded as hostile and undesirable. Phytophtora ramorum (Sudden Oak Death) in particular is a huge issue in the nursery industry now, and ALL nurseries shipping out of state are obligated to verify that they are free from such pathogens. As such, Ann's remarks should be regarded as legitimate.

Regards,
Paul Barden

I have never thought of this issue before. I regularly purchase roses, hostas, peonies, daylilies, and other perennials from EBay sellers and have never had a problem.

Wouldn't this be the same issue as exchanging plants on the Garden Web Exchange Forum? Or even buying plants at the local farmer's market? Interesting topic.
-t

I agree, there are thousands of exchanges here by hobbyists every month on Gardenweb. If there is an imminent problem then Ann needs to get right on it and email the webmaster.

From the looks of it, this vendor sells a few roses, far less than the tens of thousands of exchanges annually here.

Roses imported from Europe must go through a 2-year quarantine period in addition to inspections by the USDA agents. Although I'm all for a bargain and don't want to take the wind out of your sails, it's really not Ann's job to contact the webmaster (I assume you're referring to the GW webmaster?). Imagine how you'd feel if you knew that you brought in a plant that moved a pest or disease across several states, even if it was with the best intentions or not-knowing. Ann has spent years identifying diseases and the transfer of pests and has generously shared her knowledge with all of us here. I think her point, shared by Paul Barden, is that the way we can all do our part is to purchase only from vendors who are certified to move plants between states, bargain or no. I'd hate to think I might be responsible for increasing insecticide usage in my state or damaging food crops.

Sue

I guess the lesson here is to ensure that if I purchase any more plants from E-Bay sellers, I will ask first if they have a nursery license. Most of the folks I buy from are just selling plants that are from their own gardens and they have extras. Thanks, Ann and Paul, for the eye-opener. I'll certainly be more careful in the future.
-t

I do think that if people are aware of dangers like this, and are willing to point them out about a small vendor, they, more than anyone else, would have the knowledge to contact admins on boards like these and others that provide a forum to move mass quantities of plants around the US.

Lucille,
With all due respect, the issue here is not whether privately arranged trades meet the criteria for safe transport of plant material from state to state* but that there are people operating businesses on eBay which, by definition, are commercial nurseries and therefore obligated to observe the Agriculture regulations for their state. It is wise to inquire before purchasing from eBay merchants whether they are indeed licensed nurseries (many are, some are not) and decide for yourself who will get your business. Nobody is suggesting you not buy from eBay merchants, but to increase your awareness of the issues regarding safe and legal exchange of plants.

*Certainly many private exchanges of Roses occur between GardenWeb members every year, but these trades don't fall under the same regulations that commercial nurseries are bound by. However, it would be wise for every one of us to find out what pests and diseases may be present in our area which are discouraged from being transported from state to state. As these exchanges filter down to this private, one-to-one level, we owe it to each other to know how to swap responsibly. Nobody wants to find out that they have been given an infected plant that spreads Sudden Oak Death, or Chili Thrips for example, into their neighborhood. Such events are always possible, especially if nobody is really watching what gets sent where, and by whom.

Regards,
Paul

Paul,

Thank you for the respect. I do not share your view that this is a single issue. This whole exchange to me is more:it is about all sorts of responsibility, statutory and personal.
And certainly, it has become a much more diverse thread than a discussion of rose starts.

I think the ebay sellers who have nursery licenses make a point of saying they have one.

This is a very interesting and useful thread as well as something that had never occurred to me. I didn't know why nurseries are inspected. I just randomly checked 5 plant sellers on Ebay. Only two mentioned they were licensed and inspected so I can only assume the others are not. Thank you, Ann and Paul, for educating us. Cheap is nice (I really do like cheap), but don't you think the bigger nurseries would also be cheaper if they could skirt the rules? It's a costly business to run properly. Since we love plants and gardening, we really must support these ethical, responsible nurseries.
Thanks!
Sherry

And, if we are ethical, we must begin the process of reviewing through dialogues the possibilities of problems and ways to decrease risk, through trades also.

I think Paul Barden makes some good points. I have sent some emails out and, since the subject is so important to all of us, I am beginning an investigation into all aspects whether nursery or trade, of plant movement here in the US.
Sometimes, a thread morphs into an opportunity for learning and change. I think that has happened here.

I agree Lucille, which is why I also included the following in my previous comment:

"it would be wise for every one of us to find out what pests and diseases may be present in our area which are discouraged from being transported from state to state. As these exchanges filter down to this private, one-to-one level, we owe it to each other to know how to swap responsibly. Nobody wants to find out that they have been given an infected plant that spreads Sudden Oak Death, or Chili Thrips for example, into their neighborhood."

:-)
Paul

I've been on the road down to Portland all day yesterday and was surprised to find such a response to this topic. You are all absolutley right! Ann, Paul & Sue, in the future I will be more responsible. Please forgive my ignorance about these issues. I do not want to be the cause of anything nasty being brought in here. I've bought lots of all different kinds of plants, bulbs & seeds on eBay over the years. Lots of the time, extras from backyard gardeners. If I ever do purchase plants on eBay again I will make sure they have all the right credentials.

I have sent an email to the vendor and asked whether she has a nursery certificate.
If there is one, can one assume that the purchase is safe? I've ordered from large rose companies and never thought to ask about pests or disease.

Paul, are you willing to help develop a request form that people can send prior to trading? What about state departments of agriculture, would they be aware of problems in their state? That might be a good first step since an individual vendor may not be aware of any rogue bugs running around in their state.
I think that open and honest communication between buyer and seller is a good start, but a form listing the websites of each states dep't of agriculture might make a critical difference in being aware of any problems.

Is it reasonable to assume that everyone has read the rules about exchanges made via GardenWeb? This page does address some of the issues we are discussing.

See this URL:

Here is a link that might be useful: Exchange rules

Paul, that was another good post. I have never exchanged and never read the rules. I think they address all the issues previously mentioned. We need to do our own homework now that we are informed on the subject.
Sherry

If the problem so warrants, a sale/trade form could be disseminated beyond the boundaries of GW. We could include some of what we see here, but add additional info and references.

Here's something weird that happened to my sister. She bought a tropical indoor plant from a big box store. One night when she came home and turned on the kitchen light, she was surprised to find dozens of little baby lizards scurrying around the floor. Evidently there were eggs in the soil and they hatched. So even though I am assuming this plant went through all the proper inspections, nothing is fool proof.

She managed to catch the fast little critters and take them to the local zoo, BTW. You just don't expect to find little lizards in an Illinois kitchen.
-t

I received an answer from my vendor, she is in fact licensed and registered by the Florida Dep't of Agriculture which does regular inspections and she sent her number. She says she does not post it but it is available to all who ask. I had emailed another vendor I bought some annuals from and asked the samed question and she too sent her info.
I've learned a great deal here and I'm still getting a garden full of terrific baby roses next week.
YEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, out of this thread, great things are yet to come, I am pondering on a possible trade form that may provide handy state references and other info.

Paul - a question about Oak Sudden Death. I looked it up on Google and couldn't find much info on how it is passed; only that it is of concern in on the west coast. Are all plants capable of carrying this disease and how do I recognize if I have a diseased plant? This is a great interest to me since I live in a state of great oaks and have many 100-year old or older oaks on my property; many of which are pin oaks. We have had enough problems in the past with the emerald borers up towards Chicago and I've lost a couple of trees sicken and die over the last few years due to viruses.
-t

I am fairly certain that each state's agriculture department has a website comparable to this one for my state shown below. Extra critical pests have special information pages:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/rifa/

There are also invasive plant sites and noxious weed sites:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/noxweedinfo/noxweedinfo_hp.htm

In states where agriculture is big business, as it is here, quarantines are a serious matter.

On a person to person basis, we often bypass these restrictions. Agricultural inspection is not a tender process. I've had incoming roses with phytosanitary certificates checked by the ag inspectors. They think nothing of completely bare-rooting newly rooted cuttings. The lesson this teaches is that we must sneak plants across state lines if we want them to arrive alive and intact. Those of us who do this need to be aware of the risks. I try to send plants with the recommendation that they be barerooted upon arrival and the soil responsibly discarded. I know I discard all garden soil on incoming plants. How? I fry it on the macadam in the middle of summer. Those soils are often weed-infested, just like my own, except I know my weeds and don't want to get to know their weeds.

Nature is opportunistic. My own pessimistic view is that we must try to delay the arrival of pests, recognize that ultimately, we may fail. If our climate is hospitable to a pest, it is coming. I see this comparing weeds on three continents. It's an eye-opener.

Here is a link that might be useful: Regulated plants

Terry,
See URL below for a brief but informative biography of Phytophtora ramorum aka Sudden Oak Death. While it is a predominantly West Coast pathogen at this time, it is a threat to a range of plant materials in a fairly broad range of climates. Rhododendrons have been a common carrier of the pathogen in the history of the disease, although it is known to have a number of hosts. Rest assured it has not been found as a naturally occurring pathogen in roses, although under laboratory conditions researchers have been able to infect some species of Rosa with it. I believe (I hope not to be proven wrong, however) that we rose growers face very little risk of encountering SOD infected plants, and so this is not something we need to be particularly concerned with when exchanging roses. Again, I will remind you that SOD is NOT considered a risk to cultivated roses and I hope it will not become one.

In my previous posts I simply used SOD as an example of a plant pathogen that is easily spread via infected plants and licensed nurseries on the West Coast must be inspected and tested for the pathogen in order to remain licensed for commercial trade. Rose growers are more likely to have problems with sharing plants infected with Downey Mildew or Scale or some other unwanted pest/pathogen.

See also the APHIS site: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/sod/index.shtml

Here is a link that might be useful: Phytophtora ramorum outline.

Here in the northeast, the pest we don't want to spread to you westerers is the Japanese beetle. Nurseries who ship plants out must either have have screened greenhouses or ship bare root and their facilities are regularly inspected
to make sure eggs of this pest are not being exported.

Hi all,
Since I am the vendor that Lucille purchased her roses from I felt compelled to add my 2 cents worth to this thread.

I find it somewhat disconcerting that some of the posters seem to imply, albeitedly veiled & indirectly, that because I have chosen eBay as a sales platform that the quality of product and my business creditials should somehow be suspect.

For the informatin of those with an interest, I am fully certified and licensed by my State Department of Agriculture to ship anywhere in the US and most locations worldwide. I have been a professional grower and propagator for more than 20 years and have shipped starter plants to a wide variety of foreign countries as well as within the US. Online mail order selling is relatively new venture for me, but I have a lot of growing and selling experience, and am well versed in the care and precautions required to prevent inadvertently transmitting disease and pests. My plants are regularly treated with a variety of commercial products and receive additional treatments immediately prior to shipping as an added precaution.

My listings clearly state in the Terms of Sale that my license and registration number will be provided on request.
I do not post these numbers publically for the same reasons you would not post your personal social security number online.

I agree with Paul that unlicensed and unregistered nurseries are a problem and it is helpful to those of us who do follow the rules when consumers ask about it.

I would add that it is just a good practice in general to inspect any new plants you buy, including those from your local chain store. It might surprise you to know that, at least in my state, these stores are not inspected unless they sell citrus, even though they ship in plants from multiple states and import a variety of horticultural and agricultural products from foreign countries, combined with the fact that thousands of people walk thru those garden centers every day. So the actual risk of you buying a plant carrying... say a thrip from Chile, is greater in a plant picked up in your local Walmart where fruit from Chile is sitting a few hundred feet away, or a group of farm field workers walked thru the garden center door than on a single plant shipped directly from a nursery to your door.

My mail order business is small. I personally inspect and package every order, so if one of my plants arrived at it's new home carrying any type of hitch hiker I would be horrified. I would want the buyer to contact me immediately and I would then offer to 1. Pay for the treatment needed to correct the problem. 2. Ask that the product be immediately destroyed and issue a full refund.
or 3. Ask that the product be immediately destroyed and ship a replacement at my expense. Which I believe is what any responsible hort vendor should and would do.

I would urge you to simply use the same caution when buying plants from an eBay vendor that you would from any other either on line or brick & mortar. Ask questions, be sure you understand what you will be receiving, how big it will be and what the shipping will cost. I don't know what any one's experience has been with other eBay Sellers. I can only say that at Emerald Goddess Gardens your satisfication with your order is 100% Guaranteed . (Period...and that is Period with Capital P)and I ask to be judged on the quality of the products and service I provide not by someone elses' vague opinion of 'eBay Sellers'.
Anyone wanting additional information is welcome to email me directly. My direct email can be found in my store.

Here is a link that might be useful: emeraldgoddessgardens.com

Thank you Emerald for stepping in and sharing this information about your business. It speaks volumes that you cared to do so :-)

I don't think anyone intended on making it sound like all eBay merchants were less than 100% compliant with Agriculture Regulations, but we all know that some are folks selling plants out of their back yard, and those folks are not complying with Ag Regulations. I think the idea was that we just want people to make an informed decision as to who gets their business, and how one is to make such a decision. :-)

Paul, sometimes the smaller a backyard business is, the more attention the plants get. You can be a small but licensed nursery operating out of a backyard, and comply with agriculture regulations and inspections. Of course! It is quite an assumption to say that small ebayers are certainly not complying.

I have seen a large reputable mail order rose nursery with what looked like very advanced cases of RRD on several plants. Nobody had noticed this for some time apparently. Maybe the operation was too big. Maybe the people who work there were unfamiliar with RRD. After seeing that, I don't buy plants from them. Admittedly it could have been some freaky aberration besides RRD but I doubt it.

I have bought a plant here in NC at a big retail store which was full of fire ants. My point is that big businesses are not always better.

Linda

Emerald, if I may explain, my point was that licensed and inspected Ebay sellers should say so up front rather than in the fine print. It is a valuable attribute and should be advertised - not your number. As you said, that is available upon request. And if sellers who are licensed and inspected would post it, customers would look for it and perhaps would be less likely to shop unlicensed vendors.

My DH and I buy and sell on Ebay, so I would not paint all sellers on Ebay with that broad brush. I notice that you have a 100% Ebay rating. That's what we look for. But golly, IMHO, the fact that you're licensed is a designation to be broadcast as good business practice. Something to set you apart from the competition. Take advantage of it. And give the consumer a bit of helpful information. I would even mention some of what you said in your post above as to how conscientious you are. I know I took a look at your site with the idea of buying, but right now you aren't selling anything I need. All the best to you. Keep up the good work.

Sherry

And I agree with that whole heartedly, it would help the entire hort industry if customers would not buy product from unlicensed nurseries. Unfortunately, the lure of cheap prices is strong.

Here is link for more info on Sudden Oak Death
Emerald Goddess Gardens

Here is a link that might be useful: Sudden Oak Death

Unfortunately, this is a rather complex issue - I can personally attest to the similarity of symptoms of Phytophthora ramorum to other Phytophthora species, and have fretted in the past about whether I had P. ramorum running amok among my rhododendrons (which probably originated in PNW nurseries). I think we owe a great deal to the government for curtailing the spread of this illness, and perhaps it will not prove to be a pan-American problem in the end after all. Granted, some problematic diseases like rose rosette disease were not helped initially by government efforts, but I believe most other recent disease and pest outbreaks are different in nature, and awareness is heightened now.

Linda,
Would you mind naming the vendor who was selling roses infected with RRD? I just had my first case of RRD show up in my garden last year. It was on a new plant, so I have been seriously concerned about whether it came from the nursery. I bought a number of roses from this vendor, so I am quite concerned about the possibility that I may have brought the mites into my garden as well. Needless to say, I will be watching these roses carefully in the coming season.

BTW, my CdR, Cornelia, and Marjorie Fair from a reputable and licensed ebay vendor are among the healthiest roses in my garden. ; )

There are some states where Rose Rosette is so common in the roses out in the countryside, that the disease pressure is high.
One of those states is my part of Tennessee. I have seen RRD up wind of my roses in all directions. And it's in multiflora along (probably) hundreds of miles of fences here. I will get RRD in my garden every year. I have gotten RRD in my garden for the past six years, but I've caught it early and it hasn't spread within the garden.
And this has to do with robiniaquest's question in that she's in Missouri, where RRD pressure is even worse than here. The Missouri Botanical Garden IN St Louis dug and and then replaced one huge rose garden in MoBot because there was so much RRD in it. I have spoken out there and folks from Missouri have come on here, and Missouri has had a RRD problem for at least fifteen years. That adds up to huge disease pressure.
It's possible that RRD came into a garden in Missouri with a sick plant; it's more likely that it came in on a light breeze from a sick rose somewhere upwind of the now infected rose.
The hot dry conditions we had last summer may have made it an even worse problem than it was at the beginning of 2007

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Rosette E-book

Ann,
Thanks for the info on RRD specific to Missouri. I was totally unaware that it was such a problem in this state. I just took the time to read you entire e-book the other day, in anticipation of possible problems in the coming season, so hopefully I will be prepared. You're an awesome resource and ally for all of us.

Most growing info available online (or elsewhere) never takes the Ozarks region into account. We are in a totally different ecology here than the rest of the state. I have looked pretty diligently out in the country where multiflora grows rampant, and have not found any signs of RRD on either wild or cultivated roses. The infected rose I had was in town, in a very protected location. BUT, there are tons of old Dr. Hueys (gorgeous things in their season, IMO) all over the old part of town where my house is. They get pretty nasty with blackspot after bloom, but I hadn't thought about them as possible disease vectors for my roses. Of course, I haven't gone into people's yards to examine them more closely...

I'm still leery of buying roses from that particular vendor. Just in case. It was a very new rose. It put out two or three normal blooms, then immediately sent out some RRD crazy growth and stunted, hollow, discolored blooms. Ugly and sickening. This whole discussion has certainly made me less sanguine about buying plants of any kind from just anybody.

That Dr. Huey in town is a mixed blessing. At MoBot, they were told (by Dr. Epstein, one of the men encouraging the spread of RRD to control multiflora) that if a stand of infected shrub roses out by the interstate was removed, they'd have no more problems. Those roses were removed. And subsequently roses got sick in the old neighborhood around MoBot anyway. (Including the not so good Dr.) And that's where their current problems keep coming from, probably.
Also, towns and cities have lots of flat surfaces that can stop wind currents and drop out mites. And where the RRD carrying mites meet a rose: RRD.

That your rose put out normal blooms ....We saw RRD get into roses at a box store in less than a month. There was and is RRD in fields around this and other box stores locally. I got them to toss those roses and I contacted the state ag inspectors and they checked the growers who produced those potted roses and there were no sick roses in or around their prodution polyhouses.

What to do if you see diseased plants for sale: call the state agricultural inspector for that county. Tell them what, where and why.
In the case of RRD in the big box store: it was a Friday afternoon, and I got uppity because I didn't want to take a chance that those roses would be sold. The Manager did the right thing. And most managers will, from my experiences.

In mountainous areas, the spread of RRD isn't like waves on an ocean. In West Virginia, some valleys got it bad early and it took longer to spread into others. Three or four years ago, one valley in western NC had it bad, but it wasn't established in two others. Published reports had it in the county to the immediate east of me two decades before it really moved into East TN. I've seen my valley go from none to heavy in the past six years.
The worst thing is that it doesn't move through and leave a blank slate behind it. It stays (Kansas City being our case for persistance.)

Ok, so my "protected location" may have actually been a drop site for mites. Dang. I suppose that would work the same way for certain "protected locations" in the hills as well.

Thanks for getting uppity on all of our behalf. I'll be looking more closely at big box store stock, too, before buying. Of course, I always go for the nicest, healthiest specimen in the bunch, but it might not be a bad idea to take a closer look at the whole batch from now on. It's good to have this discussion just before most of the big buying sprees in the spring start up, both online and local.

This has turned into a really informative post. Can we add rose midge to the list of beasties you don't want to unknowingly import into your garden?

I've never sold plant materials but once I realized I have a midge problem I decided sadly that I could no longer in good conscience even give away my unwanted roses bushes or even share cuttings with friends/neighbors for fun.

I have also seen evidence of rose midge damage here in 3 large local nurseries. I think this speaks to what a problem this pest is in the Portland area. I also suspect the folks doing the day to day maintenance are not versed in what to look for. It does give me pause and I have moved back to ordering bareroot roses rather than buying potted/own roots so there is no soil for any beasies to hitch hike in.

Dawn

PS The last 4 photos in the attached link are what really helped me diagnose my problem. I hardly have ever seen the larvae, just the carnage they leave behind!

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Midge Damage

Thanks for the reminder Little Smokie -- that almost every area has SOME pest we don't want to inflict on others.
We don't have midge -- yet -- and don't want it, neither.
Fire ants already hitchhiked to Southern CA in nursery pots, and that's another pest I don't want.

Jeri

As noted above, the original vendor I was speaking of, Emeraldgoddessgarden, has been in business for decades, is inspected regularly, and has all the required certificates. I had really never thought about certificates before but this has been an eye opening thread and I particularly like this vendor and I'm impressed by her responsibility.

However, I just received an answer from a different Ebay rose vendor. She too, grows her own roses for sale but she says that she was told that she does not need a certificate.

It would be easy, but not ethical, to just close my eyes and hope for the best since I have already paid for these roses and these were not inexpensive.

But after reading this thread I've chosen to err on the side of caution. I found the ag dep't in her state and I have written them for an opinion.

At this time I want to thank all of those people who took the trouble to post about the possibility of the transmission of pests and diseases. Your posts made me think, and each time one person learns and thinks, all of our plants and roses are a little bit safer.

Lucille,
It's going to be rough for you and other folks in and near Harris County. The TAMU distribution map (linked upper left on the page below) has Harris County already with chilli thrips.
That means that you need to be careful full time, not letting your guard down when you shop locally.
It also means that you need to have great neighbors who care about the plants that they grow and who are up to speed on contatgeous plant diseases and how to fight those diseases.
All of us face this and there are no easy answers. We can try to keep diseases out of our own gardens as a line of first defence.
And that's where education comes in.
Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas A&Ms site

I thought I would write an update:

I received my roses shipment from Emeraldgoddessgarden and I was more than happy with my roses. They were bigger than I was expecting and some actually had buds!! And she send several gift plants! And, all the certificate info. No one could ask for more and I think that this vendor has integrity and love for roses and I am glad I bought roses from her.

I posted about certification over on the main rose forum and one of the members said he did not certify the plants he sold because of the cost factor although it looks like he certainly makes every effort to send clean roses.

I decided to email the Alabama ag dep't to query them about the other Ebay vendor I had ordered roses from, who it turned out did not have a certificate. This was an eye opening experience as the ag person did not seem to take any action, did not contact the vendor in his state, and even tried to shift the enforcement burden to me, asking that I find out what Texas required, even though when I looked up Alabama law, they do seem to require certificates:
http://www.agi.state.al.us/plant-industries/plant-protection-unit2

This vendor has told me that she shipped the plants Friday but did not say whether she included a certificate. I sent her an email asking about that but she has not yet replied.

This entire thread, and entire experience, has been an education.

Robiniaquest,
I can't mention the name of the nursery for several reasons. Most importantly, I am not 100% sure it was RRD. What I saw there is something I usually don't mention even to one person, because I do not in any way want to hurt their business. I don't worry about them spreading RRD around because I have no doubt they are on the lookout for it now more than before. From what I could tell 99.9% of their plants were healthy. I was surprised that they had any of what looked like RRD without getting rid of it, but I don't think that meant widescale negligence. Just a slipup maybe. I don't in any way fault them if some plants came down with RRD as it happens. But I want to trust that people will do all they can to keep an eye on their plants and get rid of any infected. I guess we're all learning about RRD detection.
Actually I think I will probably buy plants from them...I really bet they'd be ok.

I am sure most big nurseries are probably more knowledgeable about most things rosy than a small ebayer. But an ebayer can have enough knowledge to grow healthy plants, and can be a conscientious and caring business. I think most big businesses started out small and there's no sense in discouraging someone from attempting something. OUr country needs more manufacturing and production anyway. And ebayers aren't tax exempt.

What I'm thinking is that in buying any plants it might make sense to quarantine them for a bit, check any soil that comes with them, and I might spray mine with an insecticide. I worry about importing midge too.
Linda