White Perennials

One of the most famous white gardens is at the castle garden at Sissinghurst, England.

Sissinghurst's Castle Garden, one of the best loved in the UK, was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-Westand her husband Harold Nicolson. It was designed as a series of rooms, each with of a different character, colour or theme.

As the weather starts to warm up the first flower to peek it nose through the snow is the aptly named snowdrop. Its delicate beauty brings the promise of spring days ahead.

White rockcress, trailing perennials with small four petaled flowers, are perfect for rock gardens. They are easy to grow and spread quickly. In no time you will have a carpet of thick white spring blooms.

Columbines are beautiful long lasting spring perennials. They come in many wonderful colours including pure white and white with a touch or blue or red. They flower in spring and last for several weeks.

Lily of the valley is an old favourite. Very hardy with delicate white flowers, it will delight you for years to come.

Tulips and daffodils are a true sign of spring. They come in many different sizes and shapes, from early spring to late spring varieties. Plant some bulbs in the fall, for a field of spring blooms.

So many perennials have white varieties these days that there is no shortage of plants to choose from. Some of the best include:

Nicotiana sylvestris or flowering tobacco. It has very fragrant white tubular flowers so make sure you place it near a patio of deck.

Daisies. Nothing conjures up a summer day like a field of daisies. A small patch in the garden works almost as well! There are many single and double varieties to choose from.

Phlox comes in many different sizes from a few inches to 24" tall.This is a hardy reliable plant.

Echinacea or Cone Flowers come in a rainbow of colors, including pure white.

Coneflower - Purity

Snow in summer is a cascading plant with gray leaves and white flowers.

Baby's breath (gypsophila paniculata) is 24 to 30" tall with tiny double white flowers.It looks great, either fresh or dried, in alone of in flower arrangements.


Babys Breath Festival Star

Perennial geraniums are very long lasting plants that look good trailing over the side of a pot or raised bed.

An all white garden is often referred to as a moon garden because it looks quite magical in the moonlight. White perennials with gray or variegated leaves are perfect for the moon garden because they show up well in the dark.

Although all white flowers look wonderful at night some are nocturnal and only bloom and release their wonderful fragrance at night.

One of the most rewarding night flowers is the moon flower (ipomoea alba). The moon flower is a climbing vine which opens at night to spectacular 6" wide flowers. Considered a tender perennial, it is only hardy in zones 8a-11, so in most parts of the United States and all of Canada is it treated as an annual. The moonflower can be grown from seed but is a bit challenging.I haven't had much success so far, but this year will the year!

I think the summer flowering lilum is the perfect white perennial. There are so many varieties of white lilies or lilium that it is hard to pick just a few.

Lilum Endless Love, an Asiatic lily, is one of the purest white lilies around and opens to blooms 6 to 7" across. It has lush dark foliage and lots of buds. Another exceptional white lily is the Casa Blanca which many consider to the best white oriental lily ever.



Casa Blanca Lily

Daylilies (hemerocallis) are not true lilies (lilium) but are one of the most rewarding and hardy perennials. They thrive on neglect and will still spread like weeds if you let them. This is what I consider one of the best attributes of these plants! However what I love most about them is that they have beautiful flowers and wonderful lush arching foliage, so that even when the flowers die they look good. No empty spots in the garden. Although each flower only lasts a day, hence the name daylily, they get so many flowers that you don't even notice.

Some highly recommended white daylilies include white temptation, white perfection and winter chill.

For vertical interest don't forget to plant climbing plants like clematis and climbing roses.

White Clematis Huldine

One of the fastest growing vines is the silver lace vine. It will grow up to 20' a year and is perfect for hiding your chain link fence or covering a trellis or pergola. In the late summer you are rewarded with a stunning display of tiny white flowers. At night it is particularly striking.