Leucojum flowers

Gleaming White

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Last week I mentioned my friend Judy’s beautiful garden and that I’d been able to spend a morning taking photographs in it. While I was there, I noticed that there were a good number of white flowers sprinkled around the garden and I really liked the effect they created.

There’s something very fresh and delicate about the appearance of white flowers. If they were pure white, they could seem a little harsh. But many have yellow stamens or perhaps a touch of another colour on their petals, and this softens the effect greatly. Seen growing in great numbers, perhaps spreading their way amongst other flowers, the look they create can be  quite dreamy or fairytale.

White flowers of Anemone blanda.
Anemone blanda soon builds up to a healthy colony if it’s in the right spot.

In combination with the blues and yellows of other spring flowers, white is truly beautiful. It brings a lively sparkle and gleam to the garden and chases away the memory of winter greys.

The most enchantingly impressive sight in Judy’s garden that morning was a Clematis armandii which had become a great mass of flowers along a section of fence. Not only are the flowers beautiful to look at – they’re scented too. That’s a pretty good bonus!

White flowers of Clematis armandi.
Clematis armandii flowers practically sparkle in the spring sunshine!

I enjoyed the effect of these white flowers so much that I’m thinking about ways of bringing a bit more white into my own garden. A background of green foliage makes white flowers look especially fresh and lively, so that is something I’d like to try.

There are a few white flowers in my garden. The best are Gaura lindheimeri, which has flowers that look like a flock of tiny white butterflies, and the white pulsatilla that I photographed last month. There’s also a big old white lilac (Madam Lemoine) which has very scented double white flowers and is a joy to be near…except that it has one problem. When its flowers die, they turn brown but don’t fall and because this lilac has become very tall now, it’s difficult to prune them off. The dead flowers really spoil the look of this lilac, so I will have to get out my telescopic lopper on a pole thingy to remove them. That will most likely be exhausting but worth it!

Magnolia stellata flower.
Magnolia stellata brings a touch of the exotic to the garden.

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

25 thoughts on “Gleaming White”

  1. You’ve done full justice to these lovely white flowers Ann! I particularly love the snowflake photo that leads your post and it’s interesting to hear about the clematis that also offers scent. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I haven’t made much use of white in my garden either, but I have just planted gaura, and you are right, it is like butterflies! I too love the pristine perfection of white flowers.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I love the gaura – it was actually given to me by the same friend whose garden is in the photos here and it has done really well. 🙂

      Like

    1. Thank you Indira! My friend’s garden is full of lovely flowers and they looked quite magical together. (I mustn’t have garden-envy, hehe!)

      Like

  6. The white flowers are beautiful! The Snowflake flowers are very unusual looking. Right now I have several white gardenias bushes growing in my yard. They are very fragrant too which I love.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The snowflakes are like some sort of giant snowdrop…rather cool! I love gardenias. My parents used to live in Spain and there was a garden centre just across the road. They often had gardenias there and I would just spend a while enjoying the perfume…lovely! Your yard must smell Heavenly! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh yes, Laurel – that must have been beautiful! 🙂 I have a few white plants and I really notice them just as the light is starting to go. I must plant more, especially close to the house where we’ll see them in the evening. White nicotiana would be good – so there would be scent too.

      Like

  8. Hi Ann, I’m thinking of doing a “white” post that points to other “white” posts.. would it be ok if I include one of the above (probably the snowflake) and credit plus link back as per usual?

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.