Yes, rufidulums are great. The only thing (not an issue for lots of people) are how slowly they grow.

Well, I never had a prunifolium, but it looks superficially a lot like rufidulum, and my experience with rufidulum was the old adage (slightly modified), it sleeps, it creeps, then it grows a little. In about ten years, from a two year old seedling, I had a respectable and attractive bush about five feet high and as broad. It had good fall color, berries after third year in ground, and very hardy.

I have viburnum nudum (possumhaw viburnum), and even in first year, it grows much faster than rufidulum EVER grew....however, I think it's gonna be a wuss and require watering during summer drought, which rufidulum did not.

To answer your initial question, no, you do not need a pollinator for flower production. A single viburnum of any species will produce flowers. To get good fruit set is another matter altogether and that is best accomplished by planting another clone or closely related variety.

I guess it depends on how important the fruit is to you. I grow viburnums primarily for their floral effect (and sceondarily for form or fall coloring). Berries or fruit are incidental to my purposes.

I recommend you plant two compatible varieties to maximize fruit set.

Robin

In agreement with the two posts directly above, I'd add only that, if you are planting straight-species Viburnums, whatever that species happens to be, you will have what you need for good fruit set. It is only when working with cultivars that one must seek a compatible variety, which for this purpose means a variety (of the same species) that also happens to bloom at the same time as the other one(s) you have. Hope that clears this up a bit as it seems an eternal source of confusion.

So, out in the wild somewhere, let's say there are some arrowwood viburnums growing. They are of the same species, but since they were open-pollinated, they are not identical clones, the way cultivars usually are. For this reason, that patch of wild shrubs will bear fruit well. It's only when we get into cultivars that we need "compatible" varieties for fruiting.

+oM