I'm moving to starting my trees and shrubs from seed, as I'm unable to find liner stock for many species I want to grow. If I order seed from the U.S. I have to pay for a phytosanitary certificate. This is as much as the seed. (E.g. Lawyer's nursery has various acorns for $4-$6/pound. The certificate is $60) And the certificate is per shipment, not per order. Which is tough if some of the seed is ready in June, and some in December. (Some don't keep) So I'm looking for a canadian source for the following in half pound to one pound lots. * Concolor fir seed, interior provenance * Alder seed, both A. viridis and A. tenuifolia * Acorns for Bur oak, white oak, red oak, and northern pin oak * Maples: Silver maple, sugar maple -- preferably northern ontario, Lots of companies that will sell a packet of 50 seeds. I'm looking for 5000-50000 seeds
Have you tried contacting the Woodlot Association of Alberta for suggestions? Their website is down right now, but see here for some contact details. However, as far as I know, at least some provinces have tree seed facilities. For example, the Ontario Tree Seed Facility sells seeds in lots of 1000.
If you can't find a Canadian supplier, you could try TreeSeeds.com. They sell retail and wholesale and ship to Canada. As far as I know, a phytosanitary certificate is not required for seeds, only for plants. I bought seeds from TreeSeeds.com and from Sheffields.com, and neither required a phytosanitary certificate.
A brief Google search led me to a document from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: The ABCs of Seed Importation into Canada - Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Section K.3 states: "Seed analysis certificates and import declarations are not required for lots of herb seed that are 5 kg or less, or for flower seed, tree or shrub seed, true potato seed...". That document does not even include the word "phytosanitary".
