White flowers perform a special service in the garden by making other colored blooms stand out and enhancing the whole flower bed. The selection shown here cover a wide range from common wildflowers, US Natives to some rarer species. Each plant description includes a brief summary of its bloom season, cold tolerance, origin, water and light requirements and the best time to plant. This information comes from an article by Annie Thornton which I found on the Houzz website.
White flowers brighten gardens by enhancing everything around them, rather than stealing the show. Here are 20 of our favorite white-flowering great design plants, all of which will illuminate your garden or planting containers. Some are U.S. natives and others are exotics, blooming throughout the year and in a wide range of conditions.Pacific Trillium
(Trillium ovatum)This early-blooming Pacific Northwest wildflower stands out in woodland gardens with its bright white flowers. The fragrant blooms will eventually fade, but be sure to leave the plants up so that seedpods will disperse seed in the garden for the following year.Bloom season: Late winter to early spring
Cold tolerance: Hardy to about minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 28.9 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 5 to 8; find your zone)
Origin: Western North America, from British Columbia and Alberta south through Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, northern Colorado and California
Water requirement: In the Pacific Northwest, little to no supplemental summer water required once established; may require summer water in hotter climates
Light requirement: Morning sun or dappled shade; protection from hot afternoon sun is best
When to plant: SpringSnowdrop
(Galanthus nivalis)Common snowdrop is one of the first bulbs to appear in the woodland garden each year ? catch this plant before it goes dormant and disappears. This perennial bulb is especially cold-tolerant, so you might see nodding flower heads poking through snow and ice.Bloom season: Early spring
Cold tolerance: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 8)
Origin: Europe
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
When to plant: Fall
Go to the next page to see more of these plants with white flowers that are useful for enhancing their neighbors as well as being attractive in their own right.
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