White Flowering Trees for Clean Spring Color

White Bloomers Through the Season

Serviceberry opens first, in early April, with delicate white flowers that give way to June fruit songbirds strip quickly. White dogwood follows, holding broad white bracts in horizontal layers; it is the classic Appalachian understory tree and one of the most recognizable sights of a Southern spring. Yoshino cherry carries clouds of near-white blossom. Chinese snowball viburnum produces softball-sized white flower clusters in May. Later, Natchez crepe myrtle brings pure white bloom from July into September along with cinnamon-colored peeling bark.

Where White Trees Work Best

Plant white bloomers where there is something dark behind them. Against a stand of pines, a hedge of evergreens, or the shadowed edge of a wood, white flowers read as luminous. In an open lawn with nothing behind, the effect softens. They also work well near a porch or patio used in the evening, since white is the last color visible as light fades.

Beyond the Flowers

Most of these earn their place the rest of the year too. Dogwood turns deep red in fall and sets scarlet berries that migrating birds depend on. Serviceberry produces edible June fruit and good orange fall color. Natchez crepe myrtle holds smooth peeling bark that is genuinely handsome in January. See flowering trees and birding plants.

Planting and Care

Dogwood and serviceberry both prefer morning sun with afternoon shade, matching how they grow at a woodland edge. Cherry and crepe myrtle want full sun for heaviest bloom. All appreciate well-drained ground and two to three inches of mulch kept back from the trunk.

Plant in fall or early spring while dormant. Water deeply once a week through the first growing season. See our planting instructions.

White Flowering Tree Questions

What is the most popular white flowering tree?
White dogwood, for its layered bracts in spring, red fall color and berries that feed migrating songbirds.

Which white flowering tree blooms longest?
Natchez crepe myrtle, flowering roughly two months from July into September.

Do white flowering trees grow in shade?
Dogwood and serviceberry both bloom well in part shade with morning sun. Cherry and crepe myrtle want full sun.

What white tree flowers earliest?
Serviceberry, usually early April, followed closely by white dogwood.

When should white flowering trees be planted?
Fall or early spring while dormant, so roots establish before bloom season.

Three generations of growers in Altamont, Tennessee stand behind every tree. Plants are guaranteed to arrive alive.