How to Use White in Your Flower Garden
Though white is not considered a color, it plays a critical role in any artistic composition. In a garden, it’s a design tool that you can use to create many different moods and styles, from crisp and modern to cottage garden casual. Here are some creative ways for using white in your flower garden.
Shades of White
Flowers that we call “white” are rarely pure white. In most cases they are either cool whites (with tints of blue) or warm whites (with tints of yellow or pink). As you may imagine, it’s best to pair cool white flowers with cool colors and warm white flowers with warm colors.
When you know which direction your white flowers lean, you can locate them for best effect. Keep in mind that white flowers reflect light, so their tint is influenced by whatever colors are nearby.

The white garden at Sissinghurst Castle.
Using White Flowers to Create a Mood
In garden design, white can be used to influence how we feel in a certain space. It can make a garden look chic and elegant, quiet and calm, or cool and fresh. Here are a couple examples.
Quiet and Calm. White flowers reflect light and dark colors absorb it. In the morning and evening when the light is low, white flowers seem to come toward us while dark colors recede. Their soft, moon-like glow is serene and it feels natural to slow down, listen and speak softly.

A shady nook in the garden of Derry Watkins, Wiltshire, England.
Cool and Fresh. In hot climates, shady gardens provide a welcome escape from the heat. White flowers can be used to accentuate this feeling of coolness. A shady garden also makes it easier to appreciate the textural variations in foliage and flowers. Consider the smoothness of hosta leaves, the papery petals of clematis or the waxy flowers of an Oriental lily.

Clematis montana alba growing with wisteria.
Chic and Elegant. White can also be upscale and refined, like a crisp linen shirt or a simple strand of pearls. There’s a classic, timeless quality to white flowers and they tend to look more sophisticated than their rainbow-colored relatives. Hosting a summer wedding or evening soiree? White flowers are a must.

Aruncus, also known as goatsbeard.
The Importance of Foliage
White flowers look their best when accompanied by foliage. It’s the contrast against a rich, green background that gives white flowers volume and a light, ethereal feeling.
Pair cool white flowers with plants that have a blue cast, such as silvery artemisia, stachys and grey-blue hosta. Greys and silvers tend to soften white flowers and help them blend rather than stand out.
Creamy whites look better with warm olive or lime greens, such as alchemilla, euphorbia and hakonechloa. Foliage with bronze or brown tones is also a great companion for warm whites. Consider heucheras, ajuga and rodgersia.

Primula seiboldii
Grasses can be good companions for white flowers and help integrate them into the landscape. Consider grasses with variegated foliage such as Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Cosmopolitan’ and Calamagrostis ‘Overdam’.

Pampas grass in Bressingham Gardens, Norfork, England.
Using White Flowers for Accents and Pacing
White flowers are striking and grab our attention. This is why if you use too many of them, you can wind up with a garden that’s just as loud and unsettling as one that’s filled with reds and oranges.
The best way to use white is judiciously: for creating pacing and rhythm, for emphasizing contrasts and to create interruptions. Remember to also work with the shapes of flowers and foliage, whether they are tall and spiky or soft and mounding. The goal should always be to create pleasing shapes in the landscape.

The summer bulb Eucomis autumnalis.
Another way to incorporate white is via garden structures and hardscaping. A white pergola or obelisk, a white garden bench or a section of white picket fence can help you carry the theme through your garden.
There are many white flowers that look great in pots and planters. This also makes it easy to move them around wherever you need to inject a bit of cool and freshness. Good candidates for pots include: Pelargonium (white geraniums), Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’, petunias and Eucomis autumnalis.
Plants with White Flowers or Foliage
The list below includes more than seventy annuals, perennials and bulbs with white flowers, plus two dozen shrubs and trees. Some of the species are only available in white. In other cases, you will want to seek out the white cultivars.
White Annual Flowers and Bulbs
Acidanthera, Allium Mt Everest, Allium nigrum, Alyssum, Amaryllis, Ammi majus, Baby’s breath (annual), Caladium, Calla, Camassia leichtlinii, Cleome Helen Campbell, Cosmos, Crocus, Daffodils, Dahlias, Datura.
Eucomis autumnalis, Geranium (Pelargonium), Gladiolus, Hyacinths, Impatiens, Leucojum, Moonflower (Ipomoea violacea), Nicotiana alata, Petunias, Snowdrops, Stock, Sweet peas, Tulips, White lace flower (Orlaya grandiflora), Zinnias.

Oriental-Trumpet Lilies
White Perennial Flowers
Achillea, Actaea, Agapanthus, Anemone nemerosa, Arabis, Aruncus, Aster, Astilbe, Baby’s breath, Campanula, Candytuft (Iberis), Chamomile (Anthemis cupaniana), Centranthus valerian, Chrysanthemum, Crambe cordifolia, Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata).
Delphinium, Dianthus, Dicentra, Echinacea, Foxglove (Digitalis), Galtonia, Gaura, Geranium, Gillenia, Gypsophilia., Hellebore, Hollyhock, Hosta, Iris, Japanese anemone, Jasmine, Lilies, Lily of the Valley
Peonies, Phlox paniculata, Primula, Salvia Victoria White, Sanguinaria (bloodroot), Shasta daisy ‘Becky’ (Leucanthemum), Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’), Tiarella, Trillium, Veronicastrum.

Sweet autumn clematis.
White Vines, Shrubs and Small Trees
Amelanchier, Azalea, Buddleia, Cherry, Clematis, Clethra, Climbing hydrangea (hydrangea petiolaris), Climbing roses, Crab, Deutzia gracilis, Dogwood, Euonymus Emerald Gaiety, Fringe tree (Chionanthus), Hydrangeas, Lilac, Magnolia, Mock orange (Philadelphus), Pear, Rhododendron, Shrub roses, Snowberry, Spirea, Sweet autumn clematis., Viburnums, Wisteria floribunda Alba, Juniper Blue Star or Moonglow.
To learn more about using color in your flower garden, you may be interested in reading: How to Use Burgundy in Your Flower Garden, How to Use Pink in Your Flower Garden and How to Use Orange in Your Flower Garden.
What a fabulous gardening site!! And guidance with an artist’s eye!
I also play with color in my garden…having warm shades in the foreground [they advance] and cool shades of the same color in the background [they retreat] to give the illusion of more depth in my little space….Monet and Manet figured this out and illustrated the impact quite silently. =+ ]
I look forward to the newsletters and hope that hardiness zone-specific information abounds. As a Mainer transplanted to the SF Bay area, I am longing for lilacs, peonies and violets to bring me “home”. Thank you for a beyond-cultivar experience!
Hi Michelle — Thank you for your comments. There’s nothing like early summer in New England. But what fun you will have experimenting with all those zone 7 and 8 plants!
Hi Kath LaLiberte,
Thanks for sharing such a nice information about How to Use White in Your Flower Garden.
Keep Sharing…
The beautiful sweet smell of & white flowers Autumn Clematis is very tempting. But please know it’s very very evasive!! One of my favorites but I will be taking mine out of the garden after 4 years. You’ve been warned..
Hi Betty – Thank you for chiming in. Whether a plant is invasive or not often depends on the growing conditions. Sorry this one isn’t behaving itself in your yard. I know many people who have it and love it. When you can see you have a plant that’s a thug, it’s smart to remove it before it gets really out of control.
Topping the heat charts here in Arkansas. Green and white have always been my summer colors if choice to cool me off. Sophisticated. Always works with any dinnerware outdoors. Lovely article with many choices. My favorite new addition are all my hellebores.
Hi Claudia – thanks for your nice comment. I totally agree with you. Though I love color, it’s hard to beat a simple green and white garden.