I know you have to get a phytosanitary certificate at the country of origin. In Europe that costs around 50.00. Some growers/suppliers do not want to be bothered with it, and will not export. My one personal experience, trying to export some rhizomes to Canada was so fraught with administrative problems that we decided not to proceed.
I would have to apply for a phytosanitary certificate; someone from a Plant Inspector's office would come to inspect the rhizomes at my home and then issue the permit. Meanwhile the country of entry needed to be contacted and they would have had to approve the shipment.
That was for Canada, but is probably different from different countries.
Best bet is to contact Blyth directly and see first whether he exports, and how much it will cost.
Pooling the order with others should only need one phytosanitary certificate, and would make it more worthwhile for the grower to go thru with the administrative process.
Good luck.
Laetitia

Pooling your order is an excellent idea. Barry exports a lot of iris to the US so he has it down pretty good. Do take the more expensive shipping option. Your iris will come in early spring so you may have to temporarily pot them. If you pool your order you will need only one phyto.

Blyth ships to the US all the time and will handle the phyto for you. You have to pay more for the phyto, but that's it. It would save you money to place one larger, combined order so you can split the cost of shipping & phyto among the recipients.

Laurie

Thank-you every one for all of your help. I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry to have asked for help so early in the process, because now that I've delved deeper into this there's no way I could afford it. With my current budget I would be lucky to get 5 plants.

I did send a message to Barry(yesterday), but I've yet to hear back from him. I am not looking forward to telling him I've changed my mind.

Also I contacted a friend in my local club that I know is crazy about Blyth irises too. She said that she had tried to make a pooled ordered before and not one person in our club was interested. She continued anyway, but said that it took another week to receive them after their arrival in California.

She said that back then the exchange rate was much better too. So I can only imagine how far my hopes would float this year. She's so kind that she still said she would help if I could find other members, but it seems I'll have to trash the idea for another year.

Oh well...

Thanks again. I guess I'll be waiting to see what Blyth irises Snowpeak adds next season and I suppose I'll have to take a look at the other "Blyth heavy" growers.

Brock

Wait a year and you'll find the previous year's intros from Blyth listed in several catalogs. You'll save a ton and you won't have to fool with the 'period of adjustment.'

There are always some 'iffy' growers and you can let somebody else find that out. Some prove to be disappointments in certain parts of the country.

There was quite a bit of hype on Wearing Rubies several years ago. I bought it from Keppel and was disappointed. It had only three or four buds on a short stalk with one branch. Coffee Whispers and Indulgence have grown like kudzu and have been great bloomers. Mastery has a tendency to try to bloom out. It leaves only one fan left after blooming each spring. We've already discussed that quite a few look alike.

Walter Moores

It's good to hear from you Walter.

After getting his catalog and hearing from him, I'm having a hard time letting the idea die so easily this year.

As far as duplicates go, I think it's fair to say that most of the large scale hybridizers have that problem. Imagine trying to differentiate between the Schreiner blues.

Or for instance: Keppel's 'Trade Secret', 'Secret Rites', and 'Mysterious Ways'.

It seems many people have a hard time not introducing a "something or other improved". And I can't say I mind that much. If it wasn't for the fear of mix ups, I'd say it's a great idea to offer different genetic versions of a type you like.

But that is just my opinion.

Anyway, I had given up the idea but here I am fenagleing(sp?) in the back of my mind again. I've already started telling my family they can forego all presents for Christmas and my Birthday and just add to my ordering fund. I've asked my sister if I could borrow her 10' flourescent light too. :) I even have a room picked out for all those pots.

They say you have to start with the best genes you can get in order for your work to be worthwhile. I'm crazy about his old ones, and I would hope that his newest intros would be improvements.

I really don't know what I'll do. I'm having a terrible time letting the idea go though.

No matter what I appreciate all of your advice.
Brock