White Flowers
to grow
this season
Beautiful in both your landscape and
wonderful as cut flowers.
I'm a lover of colour. And when a couple sends in a mood board filled with all the vibrance & beauty.. my heart truly sings. If someone were to ask.. what is your favourite palette to work with? I would be tempted to say "colourful!!" HOWEVER anytime we design a classic white and green wedding.... we are oohing and aahing over the completed masterpieces. There is something just so rich and timeless about beautiful white flowers.
Furthermore... when planning my landscaping around the farm... perhaps I would be more likely to select pinks, purples and yellows. But then I imagine what an ALL WHITE garden would look against my old orange brick farmhouse..... This just may have to happen.
The following are just a few of my absolute favourite white flowers that I start from seed and grow in my garden each year. There are a NUMBER of white perennial flowers that went in last season.. however these following varieties are grown as annuals here in our climate.
01
Fizzy WHITE Cosmos
A true cut and come again favourite. My white cosmo of choice would be Fizzy White. At times blooms are as big as my hand!! And always flouncy and delicate and yet with strong stems. A very popular flower for wedding design work!!
We start these from seed indoors under lights.
Magic single feverfew
02
In years past I have grown many different varieties of feverfew, however now I just grow this beauty. I found I would overlook the others and just want to cut this one!! A beautiful compliment to the cosmo as they have the same yellow centres.. almost like a mini little cosmo!
We start these from seed indoor under lights.. however have noticed they freely reseed outdoors in 5b.
03
Queen Annes Lace
A true cut and come again favourite. My white cosmo of choice would be Fizzy White. At times blooms are as big as my hand!! And always flouncy and delicate and yet with strong stems. A very popular flower for wedding design work!!
We start these from seed indoors under lights.
ocean pearls agrostemma
04
We have only grown this delicate beauty for 2 seasons now.. and I am hooked. Although a frustrating one to harvest.. the wiry stems are strong and we love adding these flowers as a finishing touch to our bouquets and arrangements. They truly dance above the other flowers and add such delicacy.
Another variety that we direct sow as soon as the soil can be worked in early Spring.
larkspur
05
Of all the white spikes, including snapdragons & stock.. there is just something about Larkspur. I absolutely adore going out to my Larkspur patch to harvest these long and proud stems. The bottom leaves strip off like butter.. and I am able to quickly harvest armload after armload. The best part.. if we have left over larkspur.. they dry BEAUTIFULLY and are always a guest favourite during our wreath workshops.
We sow these directly into the ground as soon as the soil can be worked, however SHOULD put down the seed in the Fall for even earlier blooms. We are just so tired by Fall though....
lisianthus flowers
06
This one sure is a star and one we use in our designs as a focal flower! Beautiful, reliable and long lasting in a vase. If anything needs to be out of water... this is our go to! Installations, boutonnières and corsages are often created with the lovely lisianthus. Definitely a difficult one to grow from seed, but plugs (started plants) are available for purchasing.
We start seeds under lights in early January. We also purchase plugs from Jolly Farmer.
african bride nigella
07
Simply a cutie. Another one that is usually added in at the end to create a little more sparkle to a floral design. Whether in bud, bloom or seed pod.. there is always a use for this gorgeous little white flower.
Another variety we direct sow into the ground in early Spring. These prolifically self seed if the seed pods are not harvested.. Id imagine they would do beautifully in the landscape and plan to broadcast this variety and other nigella seeds where I'd like flowers to bloom wildly.
scabiosa (pincushion flowers)
08
Let's hope you're well caffeinated for a morning of harvesting these fluffy little flowers! Each year we curse while we cut.. and then the following year we sow more seeds. They are often JUST what our designs need to add in a soft texture. I will be honest... this past season I fell in love with her perennial sister, Fama White Scabiosa.. and I may be taking a break from the annual white.. however the beige, purple and pinks... already growing under lights!
As mentioned.. we begin these under lights indoors.
09
orlaya
Similar to Queen Anne's Lace with its round lacy blooms.. however we tend to get this growing in our garden first. I find the stems such a manageable size and truly enjoy harvesting these. There is something so satisfying cutting an entire bucket filled with these delightful lacy blooms.
Directly sown into the ground as soon as the soil can be worked.
pompom dahlia flowers
10
How could I not mention this Queen? (Ahem photographed with our delightful rainbow eggs). And I did want to specify "pompom" as I have grown the dinner plate varieties in the past.. and I have since given them a miss. I find the larger dahlias more susceptible to insect damage and their vase life extremely short. A "pompom" variety such as Petra's Wedding is not only prolific in blooms.. they tend to last longer and are MUCH easier to design with.
We plant these as tubers! Which are then dug up after the season, divided and stored for protection from harsh winter weather.
To sum it up.. we love our white flowers!! And strategically crop plan to ensure that we can ALWAYS harvest bucket loads at any time through out the season!
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