i miss those days too. funny you cant bring plants across the border but logging trucks bring many tons of mud covered, freshly cut logs across all the time. money talks.
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Years ago my āexā used to sell a bunch of my plants and veggies ā¦ especially on holidays ā¦ to the āOhio Navyā as thousands spend Friday-Sunday at Lake Cumberland and return home.
Once upon a time youād see every third car on KY 461
pulling a boat.
Today, they rent boat storageā¦but the license plates remind me of bees heading home on Sunday.
But, everyone has to make their callā¦Kentuckyā¦every nursery ships to here I think.
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Years ago my āexā used to sell a bunch of my plants and veggies at a local Flea Mkt or at my late uncleās little produce stand beside the road ā¦ especially on holidays ā¦ to the āOhio Navyā as thousands spend Friday-Sunday at Lake Cumberland and return home.
Once upon a time youād see every third car on KY 461
pulling a boat.
Today, they rent boat storageā¦but the license plates remind me of bees heading home on Sunday.
But, everyone has to make their callā¦Kentucky as a state doesnāt have any prohibitions so every nursery in the country ships here so far as I am up on it.
Yeah, those log trucks crossing the border sure could carry some bugs.
Itās like āflattening the curveā ā¦ emerald ash borers, and everything else end up crossing the Canadian or Mexican borderā¦thereās a lot more dangerous things than plants crossing our borders.
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From my house it is about 20 miles as the crow flies to Canada. (width of the lake). In places (to the south and north) the distance drops to less than a 1/4 mile.
Iām sure pathogens are making the crossing without much assistance from human beingsā¦
Scott
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Yes money not only talks but it is the most powerful insecticide known to man to stop pathogens from crossing imaginary borders.
You would think it would be more taking pests from the US to Canada then the other way around. What can live up in that frozen Arctic wasteland 
The worst new pest here is SWDā¦but the overall worst baddest pest are squirrels.
I havenāt ordered anything and probably wonāt. Way too many seeds to grow out.
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these are Maine trees harvested by Irving, a Canadian company, that bought nearly half the woodlands here in the early 1900ās. its all sent to Canda for processing then sold back to the states for a premium.
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EAB was detected in Edmonston, N.B then a year later, across the border in Madawaska, ME. now its spread all along the St John Valley in 3 years.
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Going to have to move to Alaska to grow berries. I wonder if i can survive up there.
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Nope. You couldnāt survive there. Thatās obvious from your posts!
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There must be some point where they canāt make it thru winter, and i know it isnāt here. They seem to thrive. Iām not moving another foot north of where i live now 
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we are usually colder than most of central AK south so yes you can. whether youāre comfortable with eternal dark for half of the year is another thing.
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I hear people go crazy in Alaska. I hear it is very pretty with the northern lights and the mountains. Plus no state taxes help the living situation. I would much rather live in the mountains in my home state of Colorado though just because I sleep better with darkness at night. Both states you get the cold. Just have to make sure not to move somewhere like Denver in Colorado if you like nature
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Too close to the Redrock and ski resorts. No one wants to live near that
This topic is on my mind often as I am regularly searching for sources of now obscure plants.
I strongly believe that the trend towards patenting almost every new plant selection combined with heavy marketing has taken too much control away from small nurseries who are pressured to purchase large portions of their inventory that they could have otherwise produced in house. This makes it a lot harder to stay in business unless youāre big enough to be turning high volumes.
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The big guys either gobble up little companies or bankrupt themā¦and if they stay in business eventually state and local tax men and liability insurance and comp gets to themāgetting harder and harder to operate at a profit and be totally legal and on the up-and-up.
You need an existing reputation, a lot of friends, something to get the traffic that typically
congests in front of the big box stores.
Orā¦you operate as a hobby and have some other source of income.
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Youāre right about the patents, too. Pay to play.
Same deal on getting certified orgnic-- pay to play.
Same thing on selling any food item you processā¦need a license and government inspection or risk getting put out of business.
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Starks got hammered bad by flooding about 7 years ago and couldnāt catch up again. Theyāre still rebuilding, but I havenāt ordered anything.
The shortcut from patenting a plant is to ātrademarkā it. Good legal protection and a lot cheaper. For instance 'Knock Out Roses", which are sold under that trademark, even though most of them are also patented.