Why you don’t want to order seeds for these plants

Buying seeds from overseas can cost you and New Zealand a pretty bad penny.

Rainbow roses are real flowers, but they don't grow like that in your garden (growers use dye to colour the petals after picking). But in the online world, they're used along with 'blue strawberries', ‘pineberries' (a 'pineapple-strawberry' hybrid), 'purple watermelons', and plants with 'fluorescent, night-light emitting' flowers, to trick people into buying seeds.

Some sell on popular online stores – Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, Alibaba, Wish – where third-parties offer a wide range of novelty seeds at extremely low prices.

If you're tempted to buy seeds from overseas sellers, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is warning you risk hefty fines, up to $100,000, or a jail term of up to five years.

Sowing unknown seeds risks introducing an invasive species or a carrier of unseen diseases and pests that could have a devastating impact on NZ's native flora and fauna.

The rise of overseas seeds

Most of us aren't going to be conned by freaky-looking flowers, vegetables, or fruit. But MPI expects the amount of illegally imported seeds and plants getting into NZ to rise due to the big increase in people buying goods online from overseas.

In 2017, of the 10,500 parcels MPI seized under the Biosecurity Act, about half contained seeds. It's estimated that about 50 million mail items will arrive annually by 2023, which means more seeds are likely to escape detection at the border.

MPI says what buyers don't realise is that most of the seed varieties ordered from overseas are available from local companies that follow strict protocols.

Where that's not the case, many seeds can be imported, but it must be done safely and securely, according to the Biosecurity Act.

It is your responsibility to ensure NZ's biosecurity import requirements are met by the supplier before you buy seeds from overseas.

READ MORE

Find comprehensive information, including a searchable database of permitted and banned seeds and plants (the Plant Biosecurity Index): www.biosecurity.govt.nz/import/ plants/seeds-for-sowing/

This might look like a real rose growing on a bush, but it's a fake photo. The rose must be cut, then treated with dyes to achieve this look.

LEFT: Clever photos are used to trick people into buying seeds for plants that don't exist.