Steve, try asking customs?

Hi Steve,

The bulbs absolutely do need a Phyto Certificate or they will be impounded by customs & destroyed. The number that you are importing is irrelevant.

Any nursery offering to export to the UK should also be able to arrange the certificate to accompany the export and quote you for the cost of this too - it shouldn't be hugely expensive.

I checked with the Portugese agriculture people because I wanted to get some seeds, and even those required the certificate. But I went to www.exotic-plants.de and found the seeds I wanted, and my South African gladiolus seeds are starting to emerge.

Hi Wylie,
we are able to import seed into the UK without a Phyto, but then I would guess that our environment is not as susceptible to floral "invaders" as is yours in the Azores.

There aren't that many native species here - just about everything has been imported. But I asked the company in S.A. if they had the Phyto's, and they replied that because they used a lot of small suppliers, they were unable to get them. But there are no problems with anything from the EU.