50+ White Flowers for a Moonlight Garden
If you love white flowers, and the thought of a yard or garden full of white blooms sounds like a dream come true… then you’re in the right place. Today we’re chatting about white flowers and moonlight gardens!
I’ve been planning and gathering ideas for a moonlight garden here at our farmhouse for quite some time now. Collecting ideas, pinning inspo pics on Pinterest, and writing down the names of every pretty white flower I come across…
So far, I’ve compiled a list of over 50 different white flowers, or white flowering plants, for a moonlight garden. From white flowering bulbs, to white perennials, to trees and shrubs with white flowers.
I’m so excited to share my list with you today along with some of my plans and ideas for our home’s landscaping!
This post is full of inspiration to help you plan and design your own moonlight garden, full of beautiful white flowers for you to enjoy all year long. So I truly hope you enjoy it, and I hope it brings a little joy to your scroll today.
What is a Moonlight Garden?
But what exactly is a moonlight garden? A moonlight garden, also called a moon garden, is a garden or landscape filled with white or light colored flowers and plants that will reflect the moon’s light at night.
This type of garden can make for a magical way to enjoy your outdoor spaces in the evening hours!
I’ve been dreaming of this idea of a white moonlight garden for a couple years now! And though we’ll be starting slow, adding to our farmhouse landscaping a little bit at a time with each new year, I’m excited to see my dream garden visions become a reality here on the farm!
Last year we added this DIY pea gravel path, and pea gravel filled beds around the farmhouse.
We also planted a few White Wedding Hydrangeas along the chimney side of the house. Our the plan is to add to it a little more each year. More paths and more pretty white flowers!
Have you taken the tour?
We re-built our family’s 1800’s farmhouse… and I put together a mini tour of the before photos!
Moon Gardens for White Flower Arrangements
Full disclosure, the nighttime glow is only part of the appeal of a moonlight garden to me. I love all things simple country cottage farmhouse style. And I also love incorporating lots of white flowers in our home’s decor.
The thought of stepping outside our farmhouse, and being able to cut my own bouquet of fresh white florals from our yard really appeals to me. It’s a big part of why I love the idea of a moon garden, and why I want to incorporate more white flowers in our farmhouse landscaping!
How to Create a Moonlight Garden
To create a moonlight garden, you’ll want to select plants with white, or light colored flowers. You could even incorporate plants with white or silvery leaves to get the same effect.
These plants will reflect the moon’s light at night and give off a magical little glow, hence the name “moon garden”. Simple as that! Some people choose to add outdoor lights to cast a glow on their flowers at night, but that’s not a must have.
Best Types of Plants for a Moonlight Garden
This answer will depend on so many factors. But the simplest answer is any white flowering plant, or plants with white / silvery foliage. Choosing the best types of plants for you and your garden requires a little research and planning.
Things to consider when choosing plants for your moon garden:
- optimal growing conditions (Does the plant prefer shade vs sun? What are it’s watering needs? How much space will it need as it grows? Does it require pruning? Etc.)
- blooming season (I want to include many different types of plants and flowers, with varying blooming seasons. That way whether it’s spring, summer, fall, or even winter… there’s a good change I’ll find something blooming around our farmhouse!)
- your gardening zone (We live in zone 8A. If you’re not sure about yours, click here to find your zone.)
- perennials vs. annuals (I prefer to plant flowers that will come back year after year, so I tend to prefer perennials for our garden.)
50+ White Flowers for Your Moonlight Garden
The flowers and flowering plants in this list are organized into categories below.
My goal for our yard is to have white flowers blooming all year round. So over time, I will choose a variety of white flowers that bloom at all different times throughout the year. Ideally some in spring, summer, fall, and winter if I’m able!
To make this list an even more helpful resource, I’ve noted the typical blooming season beside each flower variety.
(Keep in mind, I am in Zone 8A – so the blooming season may be slightly different for your zone. Also weather, and the particular variety of each plant can impact the blooming season.)
White Flowering Bulbs for a Moon Garden
Plant them once in the Fall, and they’ll bloom year after year (usually in the Spring). Bulbs are one of my favorite types of flowers! Here are a few of my favorite white flowering bulbs to consider for your moonlight garden.
- Snowdrops – January through March
- White Daffodils – February through March
- White Grape Hyacinth – February through March
- Summer Snowflakes – March through April
- Tulips – March through May
- White Iris – April through May
- Lily of the Valley – April through June
- Ranunculus – April through June
- Peonies – April through June
- Dahlias – July through October
- Gladiolus – August through September
White Perennial Flowers for a Moonlight Garden
Perennials come back to life each year, making them a great investment that you can enjoy for many years to come.
Technically the flowering bulbs listed above could also be considered perennials. The main difference is that the perennials listed here grow from seeds.
- White Lupine – April through June
- Daisies – May through July
- Delphiniums – May through July
- Veronica “White Wands” – June through August
White Annual Flowers for a Moonlight Garden
Annuals live just for a season, but they’re great for the pollinators and are beautiful just the same!
- Petunias – Spring through the first frost of Fall
- Impatiens – Spring through the first frost of Fall
- Moon Vine – late Spring through early Fall
- Zinnias – Summer through Fall
- Cosmos – Summer through Fall
- Geranium – June through the first frost of Fall
- Snapdragons – June through October
- Begonias – July through October
- Lantana – Midsummer through the first frost of Fall
White Wildflowers for a Moon Garden
- Yarrow – April through October
- Cornflower – April through September
- Queen Anne’s Lace – June through August
- Allium – June through August
- Baby’s Breath – June through October
- Fleabane – July
This galvanized bucket of Queen Anne’s Lace was from our home’s photoshoot for Better Home & Gardens and Modern Farmhouse Style Magazine. I loved these flowers before then, and I love them even more after seeing them on my porch!
Bushes & Shrubs with White Flowers
White Flowering Bushes & Shrubs
- Camelias – January through April
- Mountain Snow Pieris – February through March
- Azaleas – March through April
- Viburnum “Snowball” – April through May
- Betsy Ross Lilac – April through June
- Gardenias – May through June
- Mountain Laurel – May through June
- Crepe Myrtles – July through September
White Rose Varieties
Roses tend to bloom from anytime between May and November, depending on the variety and other factors. There are so many different varieties of Roses, so I included a handful of my personal favorites that have white flowers below.
- Snow Goose Roses – climbing
- Claire Austin Roses – climbing
- Winchester Catherdral – medium shrub
- Flower Carpet White Rose – trailing / ground cover
- Pope John Paul II Hybrid Tea Rose – long stem cut flowers
White Hydrangea Varieties
Hydrangeas bloom from Spring all the way through early Fall, depending on the particular variety, the weather, etc. Here are a few of my favorite white hydrangea varieties to consider!
- Annabelle Hydrangea
- Incrediball Hydrangea
- Limelight Hydrangea
- Bobo Hydrangea
- Gatsby Moon Oakleaf Hydrangea
- Snowstorm Hydrangea
- Snowqueen Oakleaf Hydrangea
- White Wedding Hydrangea
Below is one of several White Wedding Hydrangeas on the chimney side of our farmhouse!
BONUS: White Flowering Trees & Plants with White Foliage
Trees with White Flowers
- Dogwood Tree – March through May
- Carolina Silverbell Tree – March through May
- Crabapple Tree – April through May
- Magnolia Tree – May through June
- Hawthorne Tree – May through June
Plants with White or Silvery Foliage
- Hostas
- Lamb’s Ear
- Angel Wings
White Flowering Plants in our Farmhouse Landscaping So Far…
Dogwood Trees
We live on a little over 13 acres, and there are several Dogwood trees throughout the woods all around our farmhouse. Their blooms last for a short time, but it’s always a welcome sight and one of the first signs of Spring around our home!
Summer Snowflake Bulbs
There are also several clumps of Summer Snowflakes growing on the old graveyard. My granny always called them little bells or lily of the valley, so that’s just what I called them. But after doing a little research I think they’re actually Summer Snowflakes.
I recently planted more of these pretty white Summer Snowflake bulbs around the old corn crib on our farm. The ones on the graveyard do amazing every year here! So fingers crossed the ones I planted will do well too!
Viburnum / Snowball Bush
I picked up a 2-pack of bareroot Viburnum at the grocery store one year. Only one of the plants lived, and it continues to comes back year after year as the prettiest shrub, but it has never bloomed.
This year I’d like to add another Viburnum plant because these plants need to cross pollinate in order to flower. So you really need two for them to do well. I love the way Viburnum looks in photos. I think they look quite similar to hydrangeas, and I’m hopeful we can get ours to bloom eventually!
White Wedding Hydrangeas
We have 7 or 8 White Wedding hydrangeas planted on the chimney side of the farmhouse. This particular variety is more sun and heat tolerant compared to other varieties, and they have done great in this spot! I highly recommend this variety and we will definitely be planting more of these in the future.
Snowstorm Hydrangeas
We planted a few Snowstorm hydrangeas on the river side of our home, and I regret not taking photos of them last year so I could show you. They were very small young plants when we got them.
I’ve heard heard it may take 2-3 years for them to bloom, but they seemed to do well enough all last year. So for now, we wait and water and hope they do well in that spot!
I hope to add many more white flowers and white flowering plants to our farmhouse’s landscaping… and slowly create our own little moonlight garden over time!
Which white flowers did I leave out? Do you have a favorite white flowering plant that I need to add to the list? Leave a comment below or send me a DM on Instagram if you think of any flowers that I missed that I need to include in the list above!
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
Thanks for stopping by the blog today! I hope this post was inspiring and brought a little taste of spring and summer to your scroll.
In addition, I also hope it gave you a few new plant ideas to try out in your home’s landscaping too!! I really enjoyed writing this post and compiling the list of white flowers I’m considering for our moonlight garden! Until next time…
You might want to plant moon vine. It blooms usually at night and I fix mine on a trellis.
Ooooh yes, thank you for the suggestion! I had heard of morning glory, but moon vine was new to me. I just looked it up and I’m adding it to the post now. Thanks again Kimberly! 🙂
Excellent information & beautifully written! I appreciate you adding bloom season to each category. A most helpful post as I am considering an all white garden. Thank you!!
I’m so glad it was helpful! Happy gardening!! 🙂