10 Prettiest, Easy-to-Grow, White Flowers for Your Garden

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for white flowers. Not only do they symbolise innocence and new beginnings, they also come in subtle shades of the silkiest whites. Many of them are touched with awesome sprinkles of lilacs, pinks and golds, creating a cool richness not present in any other colour.

Because they have no bright shades to attract bees and other insects, white flowers on the whole tend to have delicious smells. They stand resplendent in your garden in the spring and summer, livening up your surroundings especially in the late evenings and way into the warm nights. How wonderful it is to go outside and be greeted every morning with the fresh, heavenly smell of white flowers blooming.

This article is inspired by my friend’s blog where she has photographed a superb array of flowers.

Lilly of the Valley (Convallaria Majalis)

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These tiny, sweet-smelling flowers are the some of the first to come out in my garden every spring. If you’re buying them, you only need a couple of plants, as before you know it they would’ve colonised their surroundings.  They’re wonderful for planting under trees because they enjoy relaxing in the shade. For me, they’re on this list because they herald in the warmer weather, add bright glory to the garden with their lovely bell-like flowers, and encourage me to go out after an extended period indoors during the winter. Lily of the Valley also provide food for the early insects and moths, another reason to add these easy-going white gems to your garden.

Tea Rose – hybrid (Rosa)

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I love my white Tea Rose. I’ve moved it twice around the garden, but it’s never failed to deliver those gorgeous, almost-spiritual, heavenly-scented flowers. Native to Asia, and unlike a lot of other roses, hybrid Tea Roses remain on the branch for a long time, providing you with extended pleasure. My Tea Rose calls me out into the garden in the mornings. I make sure I sniff them every day. As long as they’re pruned, they’re not fussy about being fed, they will just keep on flowering. Like the Lily of the Valley, this plant is also edible.

Tulip (Tulipa)

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I’ve got several types of Tulips in my garden, but the sweetest ones of all are the innocent, silky white variety. Tulips, like the Lily of the Valley, herald in the warmer weather. Tulips are widely known as being from Holland, but in truth, they may have actually come from as far away as Iran. Planted about a foot under the ground, the bulbs regenerate and can multiply each year, resulting in fields full of majestic, proud flowers. They need next to no work – just your adoration.

Daisy

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Ah, the lowly Daisy. This beautiful flower has been put down and ridiculed, even called a weed to its face, but we know better. The Ox-Eye Daisy will give your garden a genuine feel of the country-side should they be left alone to get on with their work. In June, bathing their stems and roots in the sunlight, their little yellow eyes peer out from big, happy, white smiling faces. I have a small space in the back garden where I allow some wild flowers to grow. It’s the most pleasant sight on early summer evenings to watch daisies dance to the tune of the light breeze.

Mock Orange (Philadelphus Virginalis)

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You will never smell a sweeter smell than the scent of a flower from the Philadelphus Virginalis shrub. I assure you. I’ve got three of them in my garden and even my husband has to stop and slowly inhale their divine aroma. So sweet it is that it instantly induces a lift to your mood. Try it if you don’t believe me. All day long the garden is perfumed by these abundant flowers growing at strategic places along the pathway. They need nothing from you after planting. They pretty much take care of themselves, lose their leaves in the winter and flower in late spring through summer. I prune them every year just after the flowers are all gone, but this is no work compared to what they give me in return.

Phlox (pronounced, ‘flocks’)

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Mine flower in the summer, but there are some types which do so in spring. They pretty much seed themselves and are happy almost anywhere in the garden (but they love damp, sheltered areas most of all). I use them primarily to brighten up the dark corners because insects love them in the evening when they give off a most fragrant, heady smell. They grow in bunches and can reach to about 3 feet in height, so the taller ones will need a bit of support.

Phlox will flower in late spring/early summer and last right through the warm season. In the winter it will lose its leaves, but the following year little green leaves will peak out of the ground again, bigger and better every time. As long as you have one lot going, it’s easy to dig up and/or divide your plants every year. Established plants generously yield flowers year after year after year with no input from you at all, apart from clearing the dead stems to allow the new leaves to come through.

Magnolia

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There are known species of Magnolia growing in different parts of the world; here in Europe, and as far away as South America and China. I’ve seen small shrubs and giant trees, but the common factor in all of them was the exquisite beauty and form of the flowers. As you know, they can also be deciduous or evergreen and come in all different colours.  The hardest part of growing magnolia is getting it started up.

Plant out in April, in good, well-drained soil. After the first year, sit back and enjoy annual bursts of angelic-smelling flowers. I like the white variety because they mostly flower in spring. Their perfect, bright buds and flowers catch the sunlight and glimmer in the fresh pearls of the spring’s soft rain.

Arum Lily

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Before growing Arum Lilies, be aware that they need boggy or very damp soil. If you have a pond, this is the perfect place to grow them. Nevertheless, I do not have a pond but still manage to grow striking, proud Arum Lilies every year. I dug a very deep hole before planting and lined the bottom with layers of old carpet and newspaper. I water them thoroughly and regularly, so the padding at the bottom keeps the area moist at all times. I have also planted some in a deep container which has no holes in the bottom (I put some tiny holes near the top of the rim for overflow water to escape through).

The Arum Lily flowers in late spring/early summer and stands tall and at attention out of the ground. They’re easier to maintain than they’re given credit for and because of the false ‘high-maintenance’ rap with which they’ve been branded, they have become rather scarce in homemade gardens. This makes them all the more special, I think. Plant them and see. Give them an abundance of water and enjoy beautiful cut flowers every day for your vase indoors. You won’t have to buy flowers in the summer anymore.

Rock Cress (Arabis)

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The attraction of the Rock Cress is that anyone can grow it. It thrives on well-drained soil and will grow happily between rocks or your garden paving slabs. In April, it will produce a million tiny white flowers. They need a sunny position and a hair cut just after they’ve flowered, but apart from this, they are productive plants and take care of themselves very well. When brushed against, or stepped on, Rock Cress will produce the most amazing aroma, bigger than their little size suggests they’re capable of.  What’s more, you can eat them and they attract butterflies to your garden. What more could you ask for in such a tiny plant.

Petunia

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Not all types of petunias are scented, but if you find the wild (South American) variety in the picture above, you’ll be rewarded with buckets full of pleasant-smelling, butterfly-loving flowers. These need a bit more care than the others, but since they’re planted in pots, it’s easy to give them the water, sunshine, and plant food they need without wasting them in the ground. 

Regularly dead-heading the flowers will give you an extended season, but do remember to leave some seed pods so that you can reap and replant the following year. Plant in a place where you can enjoy the lovely scent the flowers give off in the evening.  If you find a few pink or lilac flowers in your white clump, pull them out straight away or they will take over and you’ll lose the pure white ones in no time.

Have you found one you like yet?