19 Beautiful White Flowering Shrubs (With Pictures) – Identification and Planting Guide

To brighten up any garden, choose shrubs with white flowers as landscaping bushy plants. White blooming bushes produce some of the most gorgeous, romantic, and lovely flowers found on Earth. Choosing bushes with white blooms allows you to discover varieties that bloom throughout the year. As a result, you may enjoy shrubs with huge white flowers from spring to fall.

It’s a good idea to choose low-maintenance bushes when choosing the best white flowering shrubs for your landscaping. Your yard receives sunlight, your growing zone, and blooming season should all be taken into consideration. Evergreen shrubs with white flowers are ideal if you want a lot of winter color.

Choosing the finest garden shrubs with white flowers is covered in this article. You can choose between white blooming shrubs based on descriptions and photos of each kind of plant.

How to Pick the Best Shrubs with White Flowers

Your choice of blooming shrub may be influenced by a variety of factors. Deciding where you want to see white flowers is critical first. Borders, containers, and foundation plantings are all good choices for little dwarf shrubs with white flowers. Living screens, hedges, and specimen plants may be grown on larger white blooming shrubs.

Your zone, sun exposure, and soil quality are all factors to consider when planting shrubs with white flowers. USDA zones 5 to 9 are ideal for many white shrubs, including hydrangeas, white lilacs, rhododendrons, and dogwood. Camellia, viburnum, and hibiscus are examples of perennial shrubs with white flowers that require warmer conditions.

White Flowering Shrubs (Pictures and Descriptions)

Let’s examine some of the most stunning white-flowering spring and summer blooming bushes.

White Hydrangea Shrubs

Hydrangeas are foundation plants that create huge white blooms as well as other colorful blooms, and they add a stunning focal point to the front of the garden. White hydrangea blooms may be stunning spherical, globe-like, conical, or flat-topped clusters of little flowers depending on the hydrangea variety. Flowers may range from 4″ to 14″ (10–35 cm) in diameter and are cream-white in color.

The huge, heart-shaped leaves, lovely pastel-colored blossoms, and bushy growth of white hyrangea bushes distinguish them. Hydrangeas typically reach a height of 4 to 12 feet (1.2 to 3.6 meters) and an width of up to 8 feet (2.5 meters). The white blooms bloom all summer and into fall, with a long blooming season.

In full sun or partial shade, grow hydrangeas. Front of house bushes, shrub borders, and flowering living fences are all excellent examples of hydrangea types. White hydrangeas may be pruned into a shrub-like tree as well.

USDA zone: 3 to 9

White Lilac Bushes (Syringa vulgaris)

Lilac bushes produce cone-like clusters of purple, pink, or white flowers that range in color from purple to white. The blooming season of lilac flowers is rather short. The long, fragrant, white panicles (flower clusters) that erupt from the deciduous shrub when it flowers are plentiful. Up to 8 inches (20 cm) long, white lilac blooms.

Between 8 and 15 feet (2.4 to 4.5 meters) tall and 12 feet (3.6 meters) broad, white flowering lilac bushes grow. Summer privacy screens and hedges are best suited for little lilac shrubs. If you have a little yard or container yard, what would you do? In that instance, planting lilac dwarf varieties with beautiful pure white blooms is a good option.

USDA zone: 3 to 7

Viburnum Shrubs with White Flowers

As an informal hedge or along fences and walls, you can grow white blooming viburnum bushes. In the middle of to late spring, white viburnum blooms for two weeks. Winter-flowering shrubs with white-pink blooms include some viburnum species. The 2.5” (6 cm) wide fragrant white flower panicles bloom.

Viburnum is an evergreen flowering shrub in certain areas. A privacy hedge, perennial shrub border, or foundation plant can all be created using the thick leafy foliage and white blooms. In colder climates, viburnum leaves turn a stunning dark red color in the autumn. These 8 to 10-foot-tall (2.4 – 3 m) white spring bloomers have a 7-foot-long (2.1 m) spread.

USDA zone: 4 to 8

White Rose Shrubs (Rosa)

Rose bushes with spectacular white flowers are some of the most stunning flowering shrubs for your yard. White rose blooms create a stunning, romantic, and aromatic garden landscape that is gaining popularity on woody stems. The petals are evenly distributed around the center of the multi-petaled blooms. The number of petals on rose blooms varies from five to sixty.

Roses are perennial plants with many uses in gardens, including upright, trailing, or climbing growth. Arbors, climb trellises, grow as specimen plants, and grow in mixed beds or containers are all possibilities for flowering shrubs. White blooming rose bushes may grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, with climbing roses growing up to 14 feet (4.2 meters).

USDA zone: 5 to 10

Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)

Cherry laurel is a 4-inch (12-cm) long upright cluster (raceme) of small white, fragrant flowers growing on an evergreen shrub. In the spring, the lovely blossoms release a plum-like fragrance. This shrub has large, lustrous lance-shaped leaves that grow densely on branches.

The red berries in clusters provide a lot of winter visual appeal. Cherry laurel bushes grow to be around 10–20 feet (3.3–6 m) tall and 11 feet (3.3 m) broad in just a few years. The shrubs are wonderful for flowering hedges, screens, or specimen plants because of their thick bushy foliage.

USDA zone: 6 to 9

Japanese Andromeda (Pieris Japonica)

Japanese andromeda is a white blooming evergreen shrub with bell-shaped flowers that hang down from clusters. White clusters of early spring-blooming shrub flowers grow to be up to 6 inches (15 cm) long and resemble lily-of-the-valley blooms.

Before turning glossy green, the shrub’s lanceolate leaves emerge bronze-orange. The evergreen shrub, which grows to be 9 to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.6 meters) tall and broad, is also known as Japanese Pieris. Grow Japanese andromeda in full sun to partial shade to enjoy the lovely white blooms.

USDA zone: 4 to 8

Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)

Virginia sweetspire is a perennial little shrub with long, thin clusters of creamy-white bottlebrush flower spikes that thrives in full sun but can tolerate part shade. White blooming arching racemes produce a pleasant scent and are 3” to 6” (7.5 – 15 cm) long. In the autumn, this easy-care deciduous plant with rich dark green lanceolate leaves turns orange and crimson.

Virginia sweetspire is a multi-stemmed plant that grows to be 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 meters) tall. In shrub borders, hedges, and foundation plantings, the rich foliage and white blooms are perfect. It’s ideal for growing near ponds because of its tolerance for moist ground.

USDA zone: 5 to 9

White Spirea Shrubs

There are several varieties of spirea shrubs available, each with masses of white blooms and tiny flowers. The flowers bloom in the spring and summer, depending on the variety, and last for a few weeks. Garland spirea, bridal wreath spirea, and Korean spirea are just a few of the outstanding white blooming spirea varieties.

In spring and summer gardens, Spirea shrubs provide a burst of white flower clusters. Depending on the variety, the upright, rounded shrubs may grow between 3 and 9 feet (1 and 3 meters) tall. The best specimens for growing in containers are the spirea thunbergia, birchleaf spirea, and white meadowsweet spirea.

USDA zone: 3 to 8

White Azaleas

Azaleas or rhododendrons are partial-shade loving, large shrubs with beautiful colorful and white semi-double flowers that benefit from morning sun and afternoon shade. Several native azalea species produce abundant white summer blooms, which make up the ‘white group. In clusters of five to 25 flowers, the trumpet-shaped white blooms feature ruffled petals and long protruding stamens.

White azaleas prefer moist, well-drained soil and grow in partial shade. In the spring and summer, the huge, rounded bushes bloom, filling warm air with lovely fragrances. The thick bushes reach 4 to 20 feet (1.2 to 6 meters) tall and broad, depending on the white azalea species.

USDA zone: 4 to 7 or 7 to 9

White Flowering Magnolia Shrubs

White or pink-colored stars on magnolia bushes are usually fragrant. Magnolia blooms range in color from pure white to creamy-white or tulip-like light pink or darker pink blooms. Magnolia flowers bloom in early spring and last until autumn, with some blossoming all the way through the summer.

White magnolia blooms may be up to 12 inches (30 cm) broad and weigh up to 12 pounds (5 kg). Magnolia flowers have 35 white oblong petals that form a star pattern. Drooping goblet-shaped magnolia bushes with crimson stamens are also available. Magnolias with white blooms grow as massive bushes or tiny trees. Full sun or partial shade is best for Magnolias.

USDA zone: 5 to 9

Camellia Shrubs with White Flowers

The Japanese camellia is a broadleaf evergreen shrub with showy red, pink, or white blooms that bloom from late winter to early spring. Up to 20 tightly growing petals in a peony flower-like shape make up the early-blooming double blooms, which grow 3″ to 6″ (7.5 – 15 cm) wide. The gorgeous blossoms enhance the foliage’s vibrant, glossy appearance. Camellia bushes reach a height of 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 meters) and a width of 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters).

White blooming shrubs with showy flowers range in size from 1.5 to 4 inches (4 to 10 cm), and some are even smaller. Camellia blossoms may bloom for up to four weeks. The white blooms of the shrubs make a lovely fragrant flowering hedge, and they flourish in containers and shrub borders.

USDA zone: 7 to 9

White Hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus)

White hibiscus plants have huge 5-petaled blossoms that are either solitary or twin blooms and thrive in full sun. Late-blooming blooms feature petals that are up to 3″ (7.5 cm) broad and have a delicate crepe-like appearance. From summer till fall, and even outside of bloom, the shrub blooms continuously. Individual blooms, on the other hand, only last for one day.

The hardy shrubs are simple to keep in your yard and are sometimes referred to as Rose of Sharon. Dark green leaves contrast with the lovely white blooms. Between 8 and 12 feet (2.4 to 3.6 meters) tall and 6 to 10 yards (1.8 to 3 meters) broad, the exotic shrub expands.

USDA zone: 5 to 9

Hummingbird Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)

The informal cold-hardy shrub Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’ has short white bottlebrush flower spikes that may be used in both sunny and shady settings. The aromatic conical clusters, which bloom from 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) long, are produced. Individual white blooms with a cup shape bloom from June through July.

In the fall, the glossy-green oblong leaves of the shrub turn yellow. Summersweet hummmingbird grows to be 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) tall in mounds. The creamy-white summersweet flowers bloom in the shade as well as in full sun, unlike many flowering shrubs.

USDA zone: 3 to 9

Wine Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

dwarf ninebark is a tiny leafy plant with little fuzzy flower clusters that thrives in rocky gardens or near front of floral beds. The white-pinkish spherical spring blooms, which range from 1 inch to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm), are common. The fall color of the deciduous shrub’s large ovate leaves with lobed margins is golden yellow. Mass plantings, blooming hedges, borders, and barriers are all perfect places to grow this popular garden shrub.

This is a useful landscaping plant because of its tolerance for drought, shade, sun, and poor soil. The shrub-like bush may grow up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall, although the dwarf cultivar ‘Nana’ grows only 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 meters) tall in containers.

USDA zone: 2 to 8

Purple Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Purple ninebark is a stunning decorative landscaping shrub with dark purple leaves and domed clusters of white-pinkish flowers and yellow center. Its white flowers contrast beautifully with the dark foliage. Against the purple leaves, the white blooms create a lovely contrast.

The reddish-brown bark becomes more interesting during the fall of the deciduous leaves. Purple ninebark grows to be between 5 and 8 feet (1.5 and 2.4 meters) tall and 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) wide. As a living screen plant, shrub border, or in mass plantings, this magnificent white blooming, dark-leafed shrub is hard to beat.

USDA zone: 3 to 7

False Holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus)

False holly is a big, late-blooming rounded shrub with masses of tiny fragrant white flowers and glossy green jagged leaves (on the right). Evergreen holly-like leaves give this mounding oval shrub its name. In the autumn and early winter, the fragrant little false holly blooms bloom.

For foundation plantings, security hedges, or a year-long privacy screen, false holly is an ideal flowering shrub. This massive shrub can grow to be up to 21 feet (6.4 meters) tall and 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide.

USDA zone: 6 to 9

Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica)

The pretty Japanese aralia shrub is distinguished by its palm-like glossy green leaves on lengthy arching branches and creamy-white autumn blooms, which are among the best evergreen trees for shade. Aralia flowers, which measure 1″ (2.5 cm) in diameter and grow as tiny ball-shaped clusters, This ornamental shrub performs well in shade gardens and has an advantage.

This shrub’s tropical leaves and globular blooms give it a beautiful spherical shape. Aralias grow to be 6 to 19 feet (1.8 to 5.7 meters) tall and 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) broad in Japan. You may cultivate Japanese aralia in pots or hanging baskets, in addition to growing it outdoors.

USDA zone: 7 to 10 

Winter Daphne (Daphne Odora ‘Alba’)

Winter daphne is a fragrant white blooming shrub that bears fragrant pale pink flowers. Daphne Odora ‘Alba’ is a variety of this evergreen flowering shrub. Tightly packed globular clusters of creamy white blooms bloom in late winter to early spring on the Winter daphne cultivar ‘Alba.’ The glossy green, leathery, pointed oblong leaves that grow 3″ (7.5 cm) long are another appealing characteristic of these evergreen shrubs.

Winter daphne white blooming shrubs may grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) broad and between 3 and 6 feet (1.8 meters) high. For the best effect, grow in full sun and keep the soil moist. ‘Aureomarginata Alba’, with glossy dark green leaves with white borders, is another lovely white flowering daphne odora cultivar.

USDA zone: 7 to 9

Red Twig Dogwood Shrubs (Cornus alba)

Red twig dogwood is a multi-stemmed decorative shrub with brilliant crimson stems and ovate leaves that is cold-hardy and grows in clusters of white blooms. Attractive clusters of flat-topped, star-shaped white flowers characterize this fast-growing decorative landscaping plant.

Year-long fascination is provided by red twig dogwood bushes. In the spring and summer, the shrub is covered in showy yellow and green oval leaves, as well as white flowers. The leaves change to vivid purple, red, and burgundy colors in the autumn. The bright red stems then add winter visual appeal.

As an accent shrub, border plant, or blooming hedge, dogwood bushes are wonderful. To encourage vigorous blooming during the spring, plant in full sun. Dogwood bushes may grow to be 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters) tall and broad.

USDA zone: 3 to 7

Leave a Comment