Add a bit of romance to your garden with a few of these wonderful luscious white beauties.
They are gorgeous and scented during the day and reflect the moonlight at night.
The award winning Chionathus virginicus (Fringe Tree) (12-20’) makes a perfect specimen tree to anchor any garden design. This low maintenance tree has elegant fragrant clusters of fringe-like creamy white petals that cascade from its branches and adds an old fashioned romantic charm to your yard. It blooms May to June, loves full sun to part shade and produces blue-black fruit that attract birds and other wildlife and has fabulous fall colour. Zone 3-9,
A spectacular fast growing tree for the small garden is Cornus kousa ‘Venus’ (Dogwood)(15-18‘). In spring, it heralds in a profusion of huge creamy-white cupped flowers (6”) with a pinkish edge. This dogwood out shines all the other varieties on the market with its exceptionally large white flowers and abundance of blooms. It’s easy to grow, as long as you give it full sun to part shade and organically rich well-drained soil. It is deer resistant and the leaves turn colour in the fall. It’s lush and dreamy.
An often overlooked tree is the Philadelphus coronarius (Mock Orange) which produces romantic looking white flowers that fill the air with a sweet orange blossom fragrance. The ‘Illuminati Tower’(5’) has lovely elegant upright branches of blooms and the compact ‘Snowbelle’ (3-4’) is smaller with arching branches of white flowers which are fully doubled and luscious looking. They both bloom in May and June, prefer full to part shade and average well drained soil. They are deer resistant and drought tolerant once established.
For the edge of the border or as a filler, try Deutzia gracillus ‘White Slender’ (3-4’) or the proven winner ‘Yuki Snowflake’ (2’ by 2’) which produce delicate bell-like white blooms. It gives a frothy-lacy look to your garden, breaking up the hard lines and giving the garden a curvaceous allure. They are both deer resistant and low maintenance. Zone 5-8 peony (Paeonia lactiflora) that is a honey-scented double white bloom with a pale pink and yellow frothy centre. It reminds me of an ice cream parfait. The blooms are huge spherical marvels that look so magnificent that they don’t look real. All peonies are deer and rabbit resistant.
An absolute favourite of many gardens is the Kolkwitzia (Beauty Bush)(6-10’) which produces a profusion of bell-shaped shell pink flower with tiny delicate yellow centres along multiple arching branches. It’s easy to grow, loves full sun and attractive to many pollinators. It great as a specimen shrub, a filler or used as a hedge or screen. The graceful sprays of flowers are whimsical and feminine.
A few of these plants in your garden will evoke bygone days of love and romance when you walked hand and hand in the moonlight. Happy Gardening!
