White in the Cottage Garden

A cottage garden by definition is a riot of colors: warm ones like red bee balm and orange zinnias; cool colors such as pink roses, purple salvia, blue morning glory, and green sedums. White blooms can soften the effects of this dizzying display, or stand alone in a moon garden. Last summer when my Serenity Garden lost most of its shade with the removal of a silver maple, I replaced hostas, brunnera, and other shade-loving plants with some more tolerant of sun. I thought to establish a moon garden with white flowers -- an all-white garden will be great after dark, I thought. So I planted Japanese anemone, white lavender, and montauk daisy only to find that come spring another silver maple had increased its canopy and created more shade than expected. I moved plants around again. Today, while I don't have an all-white moon garden, I am enjoying a perfect stand of white anemones floating above the cool greens of Serenity.

Wind flower or Japanese Anemone Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

The white of the anemones provides transition as you move from Serenity, through an arbor covered in white morning glories into my main cottage garden areas where white delphiniums are making an unexpected fall show. White not only supplies transition but ties different parts of the yard together through repetition.

The Morning Glories self seeded to climb over a white arbor

Delphinium 'Magic Fountain Pure White'

In the summer months, shasta daisies and gooseneck loosestrife provide rest to the eye from the riot of color around the pond. I planted them in drifts among the purple cone flowers, phlox, and yarrow.

Summer cottage garden

Lysimachia clethroides Goosenecked Loosestrife

Goosenecked Loosestrife (bottom right) in the Cottage Garden

 
Colors can influence perception. My main cottage garden is not very large, but white makes small gardens seem bigger.

A drift of shasta daisies makes the herbaceous border appear wider.

This year I planted white petunias in Abundance Garden. Every growing season, yarrow 'The Pearl' returns there.

White petunias border the Abundance Garden

Yarrow Achillia ptarmica 'The pearl'

I love shrubs and trees with white blossoms and have several in my garden: weeping cherry, catalpa, vibernum, and mock orange to name a few.

Top picture: Vibernum.      Bottom: Mock orange

Catalpa tree

As you can see I love white blooms for several reasons: they are restful to the eyes in a border of vivid colors, they help you transition from one part of the garden to another, and tie various parts of the yard together. I also use white in some of the hardscaping such as arbors and fences for similar purposes. Today my favorite flower is the white Japanese anemone. What is yours?

Fall is here and the weather has turned colder, but the zinnias continue to provide fabulous color in the cutting garden, the roses are better now than at any other time this season, and I am amazed to see the clematis that I cut down several weeks ago is blooming again. I think this gardening year may go down in my book as the best ever.
  

Enjoy the changing seasons,
Pamela x

White snakeroot

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