Beautiful Green and White Plant Combinations

Published on February 19, 2016

Bank on Bold Blooms

Showy white hydrangeas grab the spotlight in this sidewalk garden. What the plant lacks in color it makes up for in vigorous growth and oversize flowers. In this arrangement, the unusual-shape foliage of perennial-favorite lady's mantle offers the perfect accent.

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Opt for a Rainbow of Green

Take a close look at the range of greens in the plant world and you may be surprised. Try hostas, for example -- this single species provides a wealth of shades of basic green, from key lime to emerald. Pair with pure white star-of-Bethlehem for a stunning shade combo.

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Supply Shapes in an Awesome Array

In more monotone garden compositions, flowers of varying sizes and shapes pump up the visual interest. Here, a swirl of white and green comes courtesy of an easygoing mix of spring's best flowers, including parrot tulips, ivory bells, and 'White Splendor' anemone.

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Choose Plants that Offer Two-for-One

Rarely will you find a single plant that can supply two desired hues as well as awe-inspiring texture. But in the case of feathery-looking Japanese forest grass, the finely striped foliage does just that. Planted in large swaths, it makes a significant impact in a duo-tone garden.

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Look for the Lighter Side of Green

Silver lace fern, snapdragon, caladium, impatiens

The chartreuse tints in this plant collection provide a bright pop to the container garden. To animate a similar mix, choose plants that supply diversity in silhouettes, such as silver lace fern, snapdragon, caladium, and impatiens.

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Go Bright with White

Plenty of white-flowering plants provide dainty blooms, which make them ideal for delicate contrast in woodland or shade gardens. In spring, the ground under this tree gets a blanket of wild ginger and sweet woodruff.

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Pick a Perfect Pair

lily-of-the-nile, lady¿s mantle, baby¿s tears

What comes first: the plant or the hardscape? In this garden, it hardly matters -- both complement each other to create a formal vignette. That's a good lesson in creating a winning color combination: Use furniture, containers, and accents to complement the flowers, including white agapanthus in the planter, lady's mantle in front, and baby's tears in the container atop the trickling fountain.

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Let the Flowers Grow

A casual combination of cottage-style flowers allows foliage and delicate blooms -- including white salvia, foxglove, cosmos, and green flowering kale -- to take center stage. A small rust metal trellis adds height and structure to the low-growing, mostly horizontal vegetation.

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Get Your Foliage Fix

One of the best ways to boost the soothing garden combo of green and white is to rely on foliage. It often offers as much visual variety with speckles, spots, and stripes as flowers do. And a carefully curated collection also provides texture through different kinds of leaves. Here, a white rain lily supplies a subtle bloom, while a polka-dot plant and fern spice up the plant mix.

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Embrace the Identical

To make a big impact with restrained color combinations such as green and white, plant big swaths of the same plant, such as in this urban rooftop garden. In place of perennials, lushly blooming petunias and vividly variegated caladiums supply a distinctive natural border to a fountain.

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Create Constant Color

When it comes to merging green and white in the garden, hostas are a natural pick. Here, an emerald tone dominates the foliage, but the color setup gets flopped in a foreground draped with 'White Nancy' dead nettle.

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