Quick! What’s the logo for the Alaska Botanical Garden? You may know it as Bunchberry, Ground Dogwood or Canada Dogwood, and these are all correct. Cornus canadensis was selected by the original Board of Directors of the Garden as our signature plant. According to those present in the early days, the Dogwood was proposed and accepted because of its abundance at the Garden and its multi-season interest. The logo was designed by Ayse Gilbert.
An Excellent Ground Cover
The plant makes a great groundcover and is fairly adaptable, but according to the Missouri Botanical Garden, it “prefers moist, organically rich, acidic soils in part shade including sun-dappled conditions in close-to-full shade. It is primarily native to coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests throughout Canada and the northern U.S. Flowers emerge in late spring.
Each flower consists of a tiny greenish-yellow umbel surrounded by four showy, oval, petal-like white bracts . Flowers give way to terminal clusters of berry-like drupes which ripen in August.” The drupes are edible for humans, but Verna Pratt’s Wild Berry book says they are not generally used, not very tasty and the edibility is “somewhat questioned by some authors.” The leaves have a red to purple Fall color.
Plants are spread by underground rhizomes and 10-25 plants per square yard will fill in nicely. It’s difficult to transplant one plant so look at plant sales or (with permission) harvesting at construction sites. Do not harvest on private property without permission.
Growing From Seed
Can they be grown from seed? Following Nature’s method, sow seeds in Fall for stratification, a cooling period. Plant 3/4 deep. Seeds can be sown without extracting them from the fruit. In Nature, berries are eaten by birds and many mammals, and seeds are dispersed in droppings. For detailed instructions, see Wildflowers for Northern Gardeners by Patricia Holloway and Virginia Gauss.
And here’s your Fun Fact of the Day: Botanists have identified the Canada Dogwood as the fastest moving plant in the world. Tests have shown that the petals of the plant’s tiny flowers can move at 6.7 meters (22 feet) per second when they open with an explosive force to launch pollen. The pollen can be ejected to 10 times the height of the small plant so that it can be carried away on the wind.
Nice piece, Patrick! I will have to try Canadian dogwood as a ground cover in my garden in Virginia.
Arnie
I could not see enough of this charming plant when we were in Alaska, and I may have taken an overabundance of pictures. I regret that I cannot grow it in my clay garden soil, but it can be found in the gritty/stony, more acidic soils of the Appalachia region (East and Southeast) of Ohio. And, again: we so enjoyed your hospitality when we visited the Alaska Botanical Garden.
Thanks for reading my post and for visiting the Garden. So nice to see you in AK!