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Bunchberry is a very useful groundcover plant and you will find it is versatile and works well on many sites. It grows especially in the North American climate. If you are looking for a shade ground cover for damp soil, then the bunchberry may be the plant for you. Auburn Landscaping Pros has put together some tips you should take a look at;

So what exactly is bunchberry and why does it sound like the name of a fun cocktail? Bunchberry’s formal name is Cornus Canadenis and it is technically classified as a subshrub. If you are at all familiar with botany or plant names, you might realize that the name Cornus classifies this plant as a dogwood. The leaves and flowers of the bunchberry give it away that it is a member of this distinguished family. The bunchberry has a couple of nicknames including the dwarf dogwood, the creeping dogwood, and the ground dogwood.

If you are thinking of planting bunchberry, you may be curious about where it grows best. The second part of the plant name is the Canadiens which gives insight to where the bunchberry grows best. Many other plans are part of this specific plant group as well. The bunchberry, in particular, is native to the northern part of North America, from the United States up through Canada. The bunchberry can thrive in a cold and hardy climate, and if you are familiar with planting zones, it can thrive up to planting zone two, growing successfully even in Alaska. The ground cover of the bunchberry grows best in the shade of the forest. It is a woodland plant that prefers the habitat of moist woods, usually under bunches of conifer trees and in woody swamps or shaded bog areas. The bunchberry prefers more acidic soil and it is usually not as tolerant to salty climates on the coast. Even though it is not terribly salt-tolerant, it can occasionally be found growing in the wild somewhat near the salty waters of the North Atlantic.

Since bunchberry can be a fast-growing, creeping ground-cover plant, it is important to understand what it will look like. It can grow to be as tall as eight inches but it usually grows shorter than that. While the leaves will not die during the winter, they usually change color to reds or browns during the fall. The plant also flowers seasonally. When it is not in bloom, there will be only four leaves. However, during its peak season, the bunchberry will usually have six leaves. The flowering part of the plant is also composed of four parts. They are very small and white in color with yellow and green centers. The actual flower part of the plant can reach one to one and a half inches in diameter. Since the name is bunchberry, you may be curious about the berry part of the plant. The berries are red, which is typical of many flowering plants. They can grow in medium to large clusters of up to ten berries which is why they are called the bunchberry plant.