Summer Whites

 Gardens are rich in many different colours during the summer months, but just to continue the colour theme I started in April, I'm going to focus on white for this post. 

Ranuculus aconitifolius 'Flore Pleno'is a long name for a small button of a flower. What it lacks in individual size, however, it makes up for in generosity of blooms.

Although it is a member of the buttercup family, it doesn't run. I have two plants side by side each making a sturdy clump that remains quite narrow at the base while spreading twice as wide at the top to make a cloud of bloom. I find that quite a few white flowers turn an unattractive pink as they age, but this perennial stays fresh-looking right until it starts to die. Various sources recommend it for boggy areas and it could probably use more water than it gets in my garden, but it doesn't seem to mind.

Brightening the shade garden in late June, Gillenia trifoliata spreads its constellation of dainty white stars over its lower neighbours. Reddish stems and calyces only heighten its pristine effect. It was a surprise to learn that it's a member of the rose family.

By the end of July it will have completed its bloom cycle and be overpowered in its turn by  the dark leaves of Actea 'Hillside Black Beauty' and the pleated green ones of Hosta 'Krossa Regal'.

Also enjoying the shade is Astrantia major, whose flowers have a more substantial presence. The stamens start out pink but gradually turn greenish-white like the central flower in this cluster. 

This particular plant is self-sown as the Astrantia family is inclined to do, but plants that will flower in dark corners are not common and its easy to edit out unwanted seedlings.

Another shade lover is my tree hydrangea (Hydrangea aspera ssp. sargentiana) Its flowers are actually the tiny purple dots in the centre, but I'm including it here for the fringe of pristine white bracts that give each bloom the look of an exploding firework.

Rosa 'Lykkefund' prefers bright sunshine. Every year it extends its reach along the west fence, casting its powerful scent across the whole garden on warm summer evenings.  Huge trusses of flowers cascade down behind whatever is blooming below. Here they are providing a backdrop to a stand of electric blue aconites.

Although the effect is of a white curtain, a close inspection of individual flowers shows them to have  golden stamens and pale salmon-pink buds.

Across the garden on the east fence, Clematis 'Huldine' also provides a curtain of white. Like the rose its buds are deceptive, being striped in two shades of pink, but as the flowers open to show only their upper surfaces, they glisten satin-white in the sunshine.

Also enjoying the sun is Stewartia pseudocamellia. It's easy to see how this tall slender tree got the pseudocamellia part of its name as soon as it flowers. Some people call it poached egg tree but I feel that doesn't do justice to the elegant fringed white flowers that do indeed imitate camellias.

Giant clover (Trifolium ochroleucum) grows beneath it and flowers at the same time. It's a bit of a stretch to call it white since the flowers are partly green and the petals quite quickly turn to cream but for a little while it fits the description.

It is makes a sturdy clump that needs dividing every few years, but is not at all invasive like some of its cousins. 

The same can't be said of Eryngium giganteum, the giant thistle better known as Miss Willmott's Ghost. This biennial plant is inclined to seed itself around, and small offspring have to be pulled out before their tenacious tap roots get too strong a grip. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful sight in flower, perhaps more silver and green than white.

Harvested and allowed to dry naturally, the flowers make excellent additions to dried flower arrangements, slowly turning the colour of old linen.