FORT PIERCE FOLKS
Nursery owner doesn’t
Let ADVERSITY stop him
58
BY GLORIA TAYLOR WEINBERG
Ric Ebner’s life changed in an instant when a
crushing blow from a dump truck mangled his
face and robbed him of his vigor, but not his
spirit.
Doctors rebuilt his jaw and cheekbone of plastic and
titanium, but after 16 years and nearly as many operations,
the damaged nerves in his face leave him tethered
to medications and mechanical devices that interrupt pain
signals to his brain.
Still, the 60-year-old owner of Ric’s Garden World in
Fort Pierce looks at you with clear, blue eyes that brim
with gratitude that he’s still here.
“It’s only God that keeps me going,” he says. “And
Denise. Without my wife, I’d have been dead long ago.”
The Ebners opened their nursery on U.S. 1 in 1981,
specializing in plants grown specifically for South Florida
soils and weather.
He left a career as a diver, underwater welder and
demolition expert after another near-death experience
trapped him inside one of the tubes leading to the St.
Lucie nuclear power plant. He was 700 feet inside
the tube, in total darkness for more than half an
hour. “After that, I decided it wasn’t worth the
risk because I had met Denise by then,” he says.
IMPRESSIVE CLIENTS
His love of growing things began early, in
his grandfather’s greenhouse, and he has
passed that tradition to his son, Ricky, who
now helps run the business.
Ric has a particular interest in palms,
developing an expertise that once earned
him an invitation to escort England’s
Prince Philip through the famous 11-acre
palm garden of the Langlois estate in
the Bahamas.
“We used to be the number one vendor
for Fairchild Gardens, the largest botanical
gardens in South Florida, but that was before
the accident,” he says.
That was when his nursery employed more
than 30 people, and Ric worked 13 to 15 hours
a day, six days a week to supply his customers
with home grown oaks, palms, flowers,
shrubs, vegetables and citrus – and particularly
>>
roses.
“We’re the only local vendor for Fortuniana
rose stock,” he says. “These other
roses you see around are not really grown
specifically for Florida.”
The Ebners lost about $70,000 worth
ED DRONDOSKI