Can’t decide which colour scheme to have in your garden? Well, perhaps you should just opt for a WHITEWASH! White-flowered plants have been quietly gaining pace in the sales charts over recent years. They can prove to be the perfect base for the garden, after all you’d always start a painting on a white canvas, wouldn’t you? (click on the plant to buy it for yourself!)
ONE. Antirrhinum ‘Royal Bride’. These albino snapdragons are bloody lovely! They make a somewhat over-sized bedding plant, but that doesn’t matter as they punctuate the border perfectly, with a pristine white look, and an intriguing, bubblegum-esque fragrance! Cut some stems for indoors too, in fact I’ve a sneaky suspicion some people grow these for wedding bouquets… good idea huh? Buy them here.
Antirrhinum ‘Royal Bride’
TWO. Rose ‘Pope John Paul II’. Understated and sophisticated, there’s no need to even consider a bunch of red roses! ‘Pope John Paul II’ has weatherproof, pure white petals which are said to smell exactly the same once they’re dried as when they are fresh! A toughie for the border too, with disease resistance. Give it a go, it flushes consistently through the season too. Buy it here.
Rose ‘Pope John Paul II’
THREE. Calendula ‘Snow Princess’. Gosh, the whitest Calendula yet, that’s quite a plant breeding achievement! Calendula is the English Marigold- an absolute doddle to grow, even if you fall over with a packet of seeds, they’ll germinate in the border! Those saucy little blooms are edible too, just watch people’s faces when you chow down on them! You’ll be able to buy seeds soon…
Calendula ‘Snow Princess’
FOUR. Cosmos ‘Cupcakes White’. This one was a long time coming! Originally found in the USA over 20 years ago, Cosmos ‘Cupcakes’ only has ONE petal. There are no gaps in the flowerhead, which makes for a fun, cupcake style flower… I actually think it looks like a tulip from the side.. and, upside down, a jellyfish! Plants are a few feet tall, so short enough for pots, tall enough for the border, yet long enough for cutting, BOOM!
Cosmos ‘Cupcakes White’
FIVE. Dianthus ‘tbc’. Ooh, sneaky peek! I’ve been trying to select the best shaggy-bloomed, WHITE Dianthus for a few years now, and I’m almost there… Effortlessly fancy, and pumping out a sexy clove fragrance, you’ll have to look out for this one when it’s available! Maybe we should create a waiting list!
Dianthus TBC
dd
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Girlontor
Handy list, Michael, as I’d LOVE a white border.
As my garden space is limited, and my time ditto (and my budget tritto) I’ve made a rule if I can’t eat it or it’s not a hit for bees/butterflies, then I’m not buying it. It just keeps me focused on a ‘kitchen/wildlife garden’ I can enjoy rather than an “let’s pretend I own Sissinghurst garden” that enslaves me.
So, apart from the edible calendula (would look very glamorous on Oeufs a la Neige/Floating Islands!) are any of the above great fodder for bees/butterflies? If not, are there other whites you’d recommend that are?