Gardens are living things that change over time.
One year, everything in the garden seems to bloom in April and May. Other years, different plants reach maturity and provide color and structure during the summer. If your garden needs a few plants that will “pop” in the landscape, why not add a white bloomer that you can still enjoy after the sun goes down?
A great-looking native plant for the back of the border is Philadelphus lewisii, or wild mock orange. Fragrant, white, satiny 2-inch flowers attract butterflies in late spring and early summer.
Goose Creek is a double-flowered selection that forms a fountain shape between 4 and 10 feet tall and is fairly drought-tolerant. It’s not fussy about soil type, but it must have good drainage.
Another sweet-scented, white flowering California native is Carpenteria californica, or bush anemone. Although this plant needs little water once established, it can also accept ordinary garden conditions, making it valuable closer to the house in the “lean, mean and green” zone that the fire department wants irrigated more to retard flames.
Clusters of fragrant 2- to 3-inch white blossoms with yellow centers appear at the ends of the branches. This shrub grows slowly to between 4 and 6 feet tall and would be beautiful along a path or next to the patio, where you could enjoy its fragrance in the evening, too.
Roses are among the showiest fragrant flowers you can grow in your garden. Sure, they need a little extra water, but the payback is spectacular. Place them in areas with other plants that need regular water. Here are my favorite white roses:
- Full Sail — a medium upright hybrid tea rose with large, bright-white flowers and a strong honeysuckle fragrance.
- n John F. Kennedy — Huge, full greenish-white buds open to rich white and smell like licorice. This rose stands up well to hot weather.
- Iceberg — One of the top 10 roses in the world and the best landscape white around. It also comes as a climber. Honey-scented rose clusters are borne in great profusion. This rose is extremely disease resistant and needs little care. It looks great as a hedge or in mass plantings. This is the part I love: It has very few thorns.
- Stainless Steel — This rose is so close to white that it would shine in a moon garden. With pale, silvery lavender flowers and a fragrance stronger than Sterling Silver, it’s easier to care for and grow. Flower size and color are best with cooler temperatures or in a bit of shade.
What else can you grow in a white garden? If I had more room, I’d have a Longissima Alba wisteria with pure white flowers that cascade in spikes up to 4 feet long. Or I’d grow a Krasavitsa Moskvy lilac, whose lavender-rose tinted buds open to full, double, creamy, fragrant white flowers.
I also like the variegated Pittosporum tobira, also called mock orange because its flowers really smell like citrus blossoms. The green-and-white foliage can lighten up a dark corner in any garden and scent the air.
Tuck some sweet alyssum along a path, and your white garden is complete.
Jan Nelson, a California certified nursery professional at Plant Works in Ben Lomond, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her at
ja******@ao*.com
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