Annual Leucanthemum paludosum in spring

With the heat we have experienced in Sydney this weekend, it seems more like summer, but the season is officially spring, and there are lots of pretty white flowers around at the moment that epitomise the freshness and sparkle of this time of year, and I have been enjoying those I have in my garden. Some of them - such as the white forms of plants such as Tulbaghia simmleri, many daisies (such as marguerite daisies and the annual Leucanthemum paludosum, pictured above), Abutilon, perennial Lobularia, Primula malacoides, arum lilies, and a couple of the irises we met last week (Iris japonica and Iris germanica) - have already been in bloom for a while now but others come into their own in September.

Rhaphiolepis trained as a tree

Rhaphiolepis trained as a tree

Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica) is a robust shrub and has compact and larger forms with white flowers; it is at its peak in September, with its simple star-shaped flowers. 'Snow Maiden' (ht 1m) is a low-growing cultivar; the species can get to 2-3 m or more if not pruned. I have shaped mine (pictured) into a small tree by removing the lower branches. This frees up space below it for other plantings. I do trim this specimen after flowering to keep it from getting too tall. Indian hawthorn is does best in a sunny spot but will tolerate part shade. Bees enjoy visiting the flowers.

Coelogyne cristata

Coelogyne cristata

Various orchids come into their own in spring - I have been growing the soft cane Dendrobium nobile hybrids and Dendrobium kingianum, which both have white forms, for a few years now. This September I have had the first blooms on an unusual orchid that I obtained from a friend a year or so ago. Its name is Coelogyne cristata, sometimes called colloquially the angel orchid. It has short sprays of scented white flowers with yellow markings, and has dark green, leathery foliage. I affixed the pseudobulbs my friend gave me onto my 'epiphytic tree', using old pantyhose stuffed with some orchid bark for them to grow into. It seems well suited to the Sydney climate and I haven't had to do much at all to produce these gorgeous blooms!

White-flowered Watsonia

White-flowered Watsonia

Watsonia grow well in our climate - I prefer the lower-growing varieties and I have a nice crisp white one (cultivar name unknown) that is just starting to open up now. It is almost identical in growth habit to Watsonia 'Wedding Bells, which has bright pink, tubular flowers and appears to be a hybrid, perhaps between Watsonia borbonica and Watsonia aletroides. The flower spikes grow to around 80-120 cm tall. Watsonia like a sunny, dry, well-drained position. I sometimes grow them in plastic colanders buried into the ground so that once the blooms are over, I can lift up the colanders and plunge them into an out-of-the-way spot until the foliage dies down, and plant something else in their place in the border.

Sutera cordata

Sutera cordata

A couple of perennials are opening up their white flowers now. One of these is the groundcover Lamium maculatum, which has various cultivars with white blooms. 'White Nancy' (ht 15 cm) has lovely silver foliage that complements the white flowers. This perennial prefers a shady, moist spot. Another low-growing perennial is Sutera cordata (ht 20-30 cm), often called bacopa. It has simple, rounded flowers and comes in various colours in single and double forms. 'Snowflake' and 'Gulliver Snow' are white cultivars. They bloom for many months, beginning in spring, and actually seem to do in part shade, with some moisture in the soil. They seem to be excellent plants for creating a soft and flowery effect, especially for cascading over walls. I haven't grown this for a few years but have a new plant growing and am enjoying it!

Zantedeschia albomaculata with white forget-me-nots

Zantedeschia albomaculata with white forget-me-nots

There are many white-coloured spring annuals, such as Lobularia maritima, cineraria, pansies and violas. I seem to only have the white form of self-seeding forget-me-nots in my garden these days and they have just started to come out over the past few weeks, creating a soft haze in shady parts of my garden. I also have white forms of the Chinese forget-me-not (Cynoglossum nervosum); these also self-seed and are just starting to appear in bloom. Another self-seeding annual flowering now is the unusual variegated-leaf honesty with white blooms: Lunaria annua 'Alba Variegata'.

De Caen strain of Anemone coronaria

De Caen strain of Anemone coronaria

For the first time this year I have grown De Caen anemones (a strain of Anemone coronaria, ht 25 cm), which are sold as small woody tubers in packets in autumn and are usually treated as annuals; some of these have white flowers opening now. These have ferny foliage and really lovely poppy-like blooms, sometimes with a dramatic black centre. The petals have a satiny texture, and they really shine in the spring sun. I recently heard that the tubers can be dug up at the end of their season and stored in a mesh bag until next autumn, and I am thinking of trying this to see how I go.

I love to pair white flowers with white-variegated foliage of nearby plants - this creates a colour echo that is very satisfying to the eye. Possible plants to use are the variegated form of Iris japonica, shrubby Euonymus japonicus 'Albo-marginatus' and stripy grassy Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegata'.