Looking for perfect white filler

I need to fill an area in my garden with white flowers for contrast, preferably with something that will bloom all summer and until frost. They will be in a hot location during the day with shade in the evening. I could do white marigolds or white vinca, but was hoping for other suggestions from some of our members. Anyone have some white bloomers you just love?

White profusion zinnias, white angelonia, white begonias, white petunias-easy wave would be my choice, white sonata cosmos

Thank you for those suggestions, tigerlily. The zinnia and angelonia are too tall for the area where I want them, but the others are good suggestions. The cosmos is tall too, I guess but it's so pretty. I'm looking for a low ground hugger, about 6 to 18 inches tall. The petunias and begonias would be a good choice.

What about Nierembergia white it is a low mounding plant that will bloom all season.

I thought about the nierembergia, but if the weather is really hot in the summer, it goes down and won't bloom during the hottest parts.
The white profusion zinnia is a series that stays low-under 18" and bushy. It grows way different than the regular zinnias. Landscapers like to use it because of its growing habit and ability to bloom all summer. It also is not susceptible to mildews like the regular zinnias. Its bloom is smaller as well-but more of them.
Try some patches of several different types and see what you like best-petunias, begonias and the profusion zinnia etc.

That spot really does get hot in the hottest part of the summer. I'll need something that can take the heat, over 100 sometimes, but usually in the 90's.
Those zinnias sound interesting. I'll have to try some, even if it's not in that spot. I may have to just turn it into a moon garden. :-)

How about Osteospermum- white african daisy? I'm not sure about the height but it is sun and drought tolerant. I like the ones with the white petals and blue/black centers.

That would be pretty. Hadn't thought of that one. I saw a bunch of 1 qt pots of Shasta Daisy for 2.96 each at Home Depot this afternoon and was tempted, but decided to wait and see what other suggestions I get before making a decision.

articfire, that Nierembergia might be pretty in a pot on my deck. Does it make a good container plant?

Parks Seeds Company has a white zinnia (Dreamland) which is not tall and flowers profusely and loves the heat. I grow these every year--just love them in a mix of colors but they sell them by single colors too. I just planted some seeds on Monday and they are already coming up--very quick to germinate. Here's the link if you want to take a look:

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&SearchText=dreamland+zinnias&mainPage=textsearchresults&RequestType=NewRequest&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=submit

Those are pretty too. Oh no, now I can't decide WHAT I want to do. LOL I have decided that whatever I do, I want to stick with one type of plant for uniformity. I really like a mass planting sometimes. I've got seedlings of white and pink vinca coming up, so I may just wait and see about transplanting some of those. I wouldn't even be thinking about something else if it weren't for the fact that those seedlings are mixed and I don't know what color the flower will be until it shows up. I guess pink and white would be ok, I was just hoping to get a mass of just white going.

i use white nemesia, and its smells so pretty to when the sun hits.

cherish,
This is the first year that I am growing it but my neighbor had it in a container on her deck in full sun and it was gorgeous.

Michelle

steph_gem, I had wondered about nemesia but know nothing about it. I'll look into it.

Michelle, thank you. I'll be on the lookout for it now. My deck gets mostly shade, but has a section with quite a bit of sun for most of the day. I could just move it if it doesn't like a certain location.

Would bacopa be uncomfortable hot where you are. It creeps low, like verbena. Oh, hey, what about white verbena??? LOL :)

I like white alyssum. It blooms a long time. I sometimes trim it back after it's first long flush of bloom, then it blooms until frost.

Susan

hugahosta, lately I've been thinking about putting bacopa in there, I think it would be what I want more than anything. Lowes has a lot of it in 4 inch pots, they look awful and I know with some tlc they would start producing but I'm not paying over $3.00 each for them. I've thought about calling them and seeing if they will sell them to me at a huge discount since it looks like they are about ready for the dumpster anyway. I really don't want to go dumpster diving for them. lol

Susan, my experience with alyssum has not been good, but then, I didn't cut it back either. Maybe I need to try it again.

Alyssum has only done well for me before the heat sets in. Doesn't seem to like the height of summer here, let alone in a zone warmer.

Hey, good! I've got bacopa in several containers this year. Great plant for hanging over the edges, don't see why it wouldn't creep around on the ground nicely, too :)

Well, I've finally made a decision. I was at Walmart yesterday and was looking at the white periwinkle (vinca) and decided I would go that route. It's done well for me in the past, the only reason I hesitated was because I have so many seedlings growing in one of my other gardens. But those are still small and I won't know what color they will be for awhile. So I grabbed three of the six packs and decided to call it good. It's not free, but it's cheap. I'll post a pic later on, we'll see how they do in their new bed. Thanks for all the suggestions though. It was interesting to see what everyone thought might work.

Post pics when things get up and running :)

I just saw this recently and it looked fabulous...Euphorbia Diamond Frost

As you've made your buy this may be a mute consideration but one really tough white flowerer is Queen Annes Lace or it's more domesticated relative (I think it's related).

This message was edited Jun 1, 2006 1:41 AM

This message was edited Jun 1, 2006 1:48 AM

continuation of 1st post:
Orlaya Grandiflora.