White Annual Flowers: 12 Stunning Varieties For Your Garden

There is a unique magic to a garden planted with white flowers. During the day, they create a sense of calm, elegance, and serenity, providing a cool, crisp counterpoint to brighter colors.

But as dusk falls, something truly special happens. White flowers begin to glow, catching the last rays of sunlight and reflecting the moonlight, creating an ethereal, luminous landscape.

This is the enchantment of a moon garden, and white annual flowers are the stars of the show, offering a full season of this captivating beauty.

This guide is your personal invitation to explore the elegant world of white annuals.

We will introduce you to twelve stunning and reliable varieties that will bring a touch of sophistication and light to your garden beds, containers, and hanging baskets.

You’ll learn about their unique characteristics and how to care for them, discovering how easy it is to create a serene, classic, and breathtakingly beautiful garden space.

Get ready to discover the power of white to transform your garden into a peaceful, glowing retreat.

Essential Supplies for a Luminous White Garden

To help your white annuals shine their brightest, having a few key products on hand will ensure a season of healthy, vigorous growth and abundant blooms. These essentials are perfect for creating a stunning display.

{Espoma Organic Flower-tone Plant Food} by Espoma: To keep your annuals blooming profusely, they need a consistent source of nutrients. This gentle, slow-release organic fertilizer is perfect for feeding both garden beds and containers, providing a balanced diet for lush growth and beautiful flowers without the risk of burning.
{Black Gold Organic Potting Soil} by Sun Gro Horticulture: The foundation of any great container garden is excellent soil. This high-quality organic potting mix is enriched with nutrients and has a loamy texture that retains moisture while still providing the great drainage that annuals need to thrive.
{Fiskars 3 Piece Garden Tool Set} by Fiskars: Every gardener needs a reliable trowel, transplanter, and cultivator. This durable, comfortable set is perfect for digging, planting seedlings, and loosening soil. The ergonomic handles make long gardening sessions much more pleasant.
{Dramm One-Touch Rain Wand} by Dramm: Watering is crucial, but a harsh spray can damage delicate white petals. This rain wand provides a gentle, shower-like spray that won’t harm blooms or displace soil. The one-touch valve makes it easy to control the water flow with your thumb.
{Felco F-2 Classic Manual Hand Pruner} by Felco: A sharp, reliable pair of pruners is essential for “deadheading” (removing spent blooms) to encourage a continuous show of flowers. Felco pruners are a lifetime investment, known for their precision, durability, and clean cuts.
{Gardener’s Supply Company Snip-n-Drip Soaker Hose System} by Gardener’s Supply Company: For garden beds, a soaker hose is the most efficient way to water. It delivers water directly to the roots, reducing waste and, importantly, keeping water off the white petals which can sometimes cause them to look discolored.

12 Stunning White Annual Flowers for Your Garden

Ready to add a touch of elegance and light to your garden? Here are twelve beautiful, reliable, and stunning white annuals that will bring you joy all season long.

1. Petunia

Petunias are the undisputed workhorses of the annual world, and the white varieties are exceptionally beautiful. They offer a classic, clean look and an incredible profusion of blooms that can fill containers, hanging baskets, and garden beds with a cascade of pure white.

Why You’ll Love Them: White petunias are incredibly versatile. They can act as a beautiful, neutral “filler” to tie together other colors, or they can be planted on their own for a massive, elegant statement. At dusk, a large planting of white petunias seems to glow, making them a moon garden essential.
Growing Tips: Petunias are sun-lovers and need at least six hours of direct sun to produce their trademark avalanche of blooms. They are heavy feeders, so fertilize them every couple of weeks with a water-soluble plant food to keep the flower show going strong.
Varieties to Try: The ‘Easy Wave White’ petunia is a vigorous trailing type, perfect for a massive cascade of color from a hanging basket. ‘Supertunia Latte’ is a unique variety with creamy white petals and a dark, coffee-colored throat. For a classic look, ‘Supertunia White’ offers pure, brilliant white blooms that require no deadheading.

For sheer flower power and classic elegance, white petunias are a must-have in any garden design.

2. Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

If you want a delicate, fragrant, and incredibly useful white annual flower, sweet alyssum is the perfect choice. This low-growing plant forms a frothy, trailing mat of tiny, honey-scented flowers that spill beautifully over the edges of pots, pathways, and rock walls.

Why You’ll Love Them: The honey-like fragrance of sweet alyssum is intoxicating on a warm day. It’s the perfect “spiller” and “filler” plant, weaving through other plants to create a soft, unified look. It also attracts beneficial insects like hoverflies, which help control pests.
Growing Tips: Sweet alyssum thrives in full sun to part shade. It may stop blooming during the most intense heat of mid-summer. If this happens, give it a light “haircut” by shearing it back by about a third, and it will flush out with new growth and a fresh wave of flowers as the weather cools.
The Look: A carpet of white alyssum looks like a fresh dusting of snow in the garden, providing a beautiful, bright groundcover that highlights the plants around it. It’s perfect for softening the edges of a garden bed.

Sweet alyssum is an essential, delicate, and fragrant white annual flower for creating a lush, romantic garden.

3. Angelonia (Summer Snapdragon)

Angelonia is an elegant and tough annual that produces beautiful, upright spikes of flowers all summer long, even in high heat and humidity. The white varieties are particularly graceful and add a wonderful vertical element to garden designs.

Why You’ll Love Them: White angelonia provides a cool, serene, spire-like shape that contrasts wonderfully with mounding annuals like petunias or begonias. It is self-cleaning, so you don’t need to deadhead it, and it isn’t bothered by many pests or diseases.
Growing Tips: Angelonia thrives in full, hot sun. Plant it in well-drained soil and water it regularly until it is established. After that, it is fairly drought-tolerant but will perform its best with consistent moisture.
Varieties to Try: The ‘Serena’ series is a fantastic, easy-to-grow variety that is available in a beautiful pure white. The ‘Angelface’ series produces particularly large and robust flower spikes, with ‘Angelface Wedgwood Blue’ offering a lovely white and blue bicolor option for a cooler-toned garden.

For a beautiful, vertical accent that looks elegant and won’t quit in the summer heat, white angelonia is a superb choice.

4. Vinca (Catharanthus roseus)

Annual vinca is a powerhouse for hot, sunny spots. The white varieties are exceptionally crisp and clean-looking, with glossy, deep green leaves and cheerful, pinwheel-shaped flowers that bloom tirelessly.

Why You’ll Love Them: White vinca offers a very polished and tidy look. The pure white flowers against the glossy green foliage look incredibly fresh, even on the hottest summer day. It is a fantastic choice for creating formal-looking borders or for a clean, minimalist container design.
Growing Tips: Vinca is a true heat-lover. The most important rule is not to overwater it, as it is susceptible to root rot. Make sure the soil is well-drained and allow it to dry out a bit between waterings. It is self-cleaning, so no deadheading is required.
Varieties to Try: The ‘Cora XDR’ series is revolutionary for its high resistance to disease. ‘Cora XDR White’ is a reliable choice for a season of beautiful, trouble-free blooms.

For a tidy, glossy, and heat-proof white annual flower, vinca is an outstanding and reliable option.

5. Cosmos

White cosmos bring an airy, whimsical, and graceful charm to the garden. These tall annuals have delicate, fern-like foliage and simple, daisy-like blooms that dance on slender stems, creating a sense of movement and romance.

Why You’ll Love Them: White cosmos are incredibly easy to grow from seed and are beloved by pollinators like bees and butterflies. They are a fantastic cut flower, adding a delicate, romantic touch to any bouquet. Their tall, see-through nature makes them a great choice for the back of the border, where they add height without blocking the view.
Growing Tips: Cosmos actually prefer poor soil and can become leggy with fewer blooms if the soil is too rich or over-fertilized. Plant them in full sun. They are quite drought-tolerant once established and require very little care.
Varieties to Try: ‘Purity’ is a classic, tall single cosmos with large, pure white blooms. ‘Psyche White’ has beautiful, semi-double, anemone-like flowers. ‘Cupcakes White’ has unique, fused petals that form a cup shape.

For a touch of wildflower grace and effortless, dancing beauty, white cosmos are a perfect choice.

6. Begonia

Begonias are a cornerstone of the shade and partial sun garden, and the white varieties are particularly effective at brightening up dark corners. They offer a clean, elegant look in a variety of forms.

Why You’ll Love Them: White begonias seem to glow in shady spots. Wax begonias provide a neat, continuous carpet of color, while the enormous, show-stopping blooms of white tuberous begonias are truly breathtaking.
Growing Tips: Most begonias prefer bright, indirect light or dappled shade. They need well-drained soil and should not be overwatered. They appreciate good air circulation to keep them healthy.
Types to Know: White Wax Begonias are perfect for creating formal, tidy edges or for mass plantings in the shade. White Tuberous Begonias are the ultimate “wow” factor for a shady hanging basket, with blooms that look like white roses.

For brightening up a shady spot with reliable and elegant blooms, white annual flowers like begonias are a fantastic solution.

7. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)

Snapdragons add a wonderful vertical element and a touch of playful nostalgia to the garden. The tall, stately spikes of white snapdragons are incredibly elegant and are fantastic cut flowers.

Why You’ll Love Them: White snapdragons provide a beautiful spire-like shape that looks stunning against a dark green backdrop or a red brick wall. They are a favorite of bumblebees, and their long vase life makes them a cutting garden essential.
Growing Tips: Snapdragons are a cool-season annual. They perform best in the milder temperatures of spring and fall. Plant them in full sun to light shade in rich, well-drained soil. Deadheading the spent flower spikes will encourage more blooms.
Varieties to Try: The ‘Rocket’ series produces very tall, strong spikes perfect for the back of the border. ‘Madame Butterfly’ is a unique variety with ruffled, azalea-like double flowers. For a pure white, look for varieties like ‘Rocket White’ or ‘Potomac White’.

White snapdragons bring height, elegance, and a touch of classic charm to any annual garden.

8. Impatiens

For bringing a massive punch of pure, clean color to shady spots, white impatiens are unrivaled. They form beautiful, dense mounds of cheerful flowers that can light up the darkest corners of your yard.

Why You’ll Love Them: A mass planting of white impatiens creates a glowing, magical effect in a shade garden. They look clean, fresh, and elegant, and they bloom non-stop from the moment you plant them until the first frost.
Growing Tips: Impatiens are true shade lovers and must have consistently moist soil to thrive. If they wilt, a good drink of water will usually have them looking perfect again in no time.
Disease Resistance is Key: When buying impatiens, it is crucial to look for modern, disease-resistant varieties. Series like ‘Beacon White’ or ‘Imara XDR White’ have been specifically bred for high resistance to downy mildew, ensuring a full season of beautiful, healthy plants.

For an immediate and massive impact of glowing color in the shade, white impatiens are the number one choice.

9. Geranium (Pelargonium)

The classic geranium is a staple of sunny containers, and the white varieties offer a timeless, sophisticated look. They are tough, reliable, and provide a crisp, clean feel to any pot or window box.

Why You’ll Love Them: White geraniums are incredibly elegant. Paired with a classic terracotta pot, they create a look that is both classic and chic. They are also very heat and drought-tolerant, making them a low-maintenance choice for a sunny spot.
Growing Tips: Plant geraniums in full sun and well-drained soil. They do not like to have “wet feet,” so allow the soil to dry out slightly between waterings. Regular feeding will keep them blooming profusely.
Varieties to Try: White zonal geraniums are the classic upright type. For a trailing habit in a hanging basket, look for white ivy geraniums. The ‘Caliente’ series is a hybrid known for exceptional heat tolerance.

For a bold, classic, and incredibly durable white annual flower, the geranium is a perfect fit.

10. Zinnia

Zinnias are a cutting garden essential, and the white varieties are surprisingly elegant and versatile. They produce armloads of beautiful blooms on long, sturdy stems and are incredibly easy to grow.

Why You’ll Love Them: White zinnias are a fantastic, long-lasting cut flower. They can look modern and chic in a simple vase or act as a beautiful filler in a more colorful bouquet. Like all zinnias, they are beloved by butterflies.
Growing Tips: Zinnias need full sun to thrive. Plant seeds directly in the garden after the last frost date. They prefer well-drained soil and good air circulation to stay healthy. The more you cut them, the more they bloom.
Varieties to Try: ‘Benary’s Giant White’ and ‘Oklahoma White’ are favorites of flower farmers for their productivity and strong stems. For a unique look, try ‘Polar Bear’, which has large, shaggy, cactus-flowered blooms.

White zinnias are a must-have for anyone who wants an endless supply of elegant white flowers for summer bouquets.

11. Diamond Frost Euphorbia

‘Diamond Frost’ is a unique and incredibly useful annual plant. It doesn’t have large, showy flowers, but instead produces a continuous, airy cloud of tiny, delicate white bracts that look like baby’s breath.

Why You’ll Love Them: This plant is the ultimate “filler.” It has a delicate, lacy texture that combines beautifully with almost any other plant. It’s tough, heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant, and requires no deadheading. It’s one of the easiest and most versatile plants you can grow.
Growing Tips: ‘Diamond Frost’ performs well in anything from full sun to part shade. It’s not a heavy feeder and is very low-maintenance. It looks fantastic in mixed containers, where it fills in all the gaps and adds a touch of airy elegance.
The Look: It creates a beautiful, shimmering effect, like a constant cloud of tiny white butterflies or a sprinkling of diamonds throughout your container arrangement.

For a non-stop, airy, and elegant filler plant, ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia is an absolute game-changer.

12. Bacopa (Sutera cordata)

Bacopa is a beautiful trailing annual that produces a profusion of tiny, five-petaled flowers along its stems. The white varieties look like a cascade of tiny snowflakes, spilling beautifully from hanging baskets and containers.

Why You’ll Love Them: Bacopa is a fantastic “spiller” plant that blooms non-stop. It has a more delicate and refined look than some of the more aggressive trailing plants. It’s self-cleaning, so you don’t need to deadhead it.
Growing Tips: Bacopa thrives in full sun to part shade. It must have consistently moist soil and will wilt dramatically if it dries out. In very hot climates, it appreciates some afternoon shade.
The Look: It’s perfect for hanging baskets, window boxes, and as a groundcover in cooler climates. It pairs beautifully with other fine-textured plants like lobelia or as a soft counterpoint to bold plants like coleus.

For a delicate, trailing cascade of pure white, bacopa is a charming and beautiful choice.

Recommended Product Summary

Here is a quick-glance table of the essential supplies that will help you create a beautiful and luminous garden with white annual flowers.

Product Name	Brand	Use Case
{Espoma Organic Flower-tone}	Espoma	A gentle, slow-release organic fertilizer perfect for season-long blooms.
{Black Gold Organic Potting Soil}	Sun Gro Horticulture	A high-quality, nutrient-rich potting mix for containers and baskets.
{Fiskars 3 Piece Garden Tool Set}	Fiskars	The essential, durable hand tools for planting and cultivating your garden.
{Dramm One-Touch Rain Wand}	Dramm	For providing a gentle watering that protects delicate white petals.
{Felco F-2 Classic Hand Pruner}	Felco	A high-quality tool for deadheading to encourage continuous flowering.
{Gardener’s Supply Soaker Hose System}	Gardener’s Supply Co.	An efficient way to water garden beds while keeping foliage and flowers dry.

Bring a Touch of Light and Elegance to Your Garden

There is a special power in the simplicity and elegance of white. Planting a garden with white annual flowers is a wonderful way to create a space that feels calm, cool, and incredibly chic.

From the glowing carpet of impatiens in the shade to the crisp, clean look of geraniums in the sun, these flowers offer endless possibilities. So, embrace the beauty of white.

Try a few of these stunning varieties, and get ready to enjoy a garden that brings a sense of peace during the day and a magical, luminous glow in the evening.