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SOME OF THE MOST popular native landscape plants available today are cultivars introduced by Florida plantsman Steve Riefler, including the Mrs. Schiller's Delight selection of Walter's Viburnum, Viburnum obovatum, and 'Riefler's Densa' of the same species. Steve has been roaming the woods of Florida and the Southeastern U.S. for decades, looking for plants that have a more compact form, denser foliage, more blooms or some other characteristic that will turn heads in the landscape industry. Show people plants with “a little added sex appeal” is how he describes it. “Steve Riefler is perhaps the best plant Steve Riefler a FANN favorite Every time I asked Steve about growing a plant that no one else was growing, he would say "Sure, we can grow that." breeder in the southeast,” says Dan Perkins, Perkins Nursery. “I don't know of many people in the native sector working on selections like he does. It happens all the time on the non-native side.” Dan feels strongly that getting native plants used more is both critical and dependent on the availability of more “readily likable” plants — like Steve's selections. Dan spent a few days in the Panhandle with Steve and was amazed at the breadth and depth of his plant knowledge. Laurel Schiller, Florida Native Plants Nursery, points out that “So much about understanding native plants comes from seeing them in the places where they grow naturally — all the places. Steve knows the southeast intimately, he has been everywhere.” She remembers how years ago, Steve would show up with a truckload of projects, always with new native cultivars in the works. David Drylie, Green Images Native Landscape Plants, met Steve at an Orlando Garden Club in the early 1980s. David was working as a landscape architect and had a project for which he wanted to use native plants. Steve was growing some native plants at Riefler's Nursery on Curry — David Drylie, Green Images Native Landscape Plants NOT NATIVE | The latest from the Riefler Steve Riefler's best known selections lab: Steve has created a line of very popular short pines by grafting Witch's Broom scion from several pine species onto South Florida Pine root stock. While not a true native plant, the Scion Pine is available from several FANN members. Ford Road in Orlando. David describes Steve as “relentless in his pursuit of learning how to grow new species” and very experimental. Steve would try unusual techniques, even going so far as to try microwaving seeds, to learn how to grow these plants that no one was growing. David needed 10,000 Cordgrass, Spartina bakeri, for a project and at the time, no one was growing Cordgrass in containers. He asked Steve if he thought Cordgrass could be grown in a pot. Steve said “Sure, we can do that,” and they did. The men worked together to introduce Silver Saw Palmetto, Muhlygrass and other now popu- 44 FANN Wholesale Native Plant & Service Directory | Fall 2017 - 2018 Myrcianthes fragrans 'Geode' more compact, dense shrub Viburnum obovatum cultivars 'Mrs. Schiller's Delight' compact, 2-5' high excellent substitute for Indian Hawthorn 'Riefler's Densa' compact, 5-6' high, more adapted to wetter area 'Riefler's Dwarf' Compact, 4-5' high 'Riefler's Whorled Class' 3 leaves growing per node, giving a whorled appearance Bronze foliage in fall CONTINUED ON PAGE 50 CHRIS WALTZ FANN PHOTO


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