White Four-Petaled Flowers

Ornamental Perennials

• Perennials used in landscaping generally live for at least three years. The candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), a mounding evergreen perennial, blooms with white flowers in early spring. Each flower has two long lower petals and two shorter upper petals. Candytuft thrives in full sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil and grows to 10 inches tall and 2 feet wide. This perennial can be used in rock beds, as a ground cover or as a bedding plant.

  The white Mexican primrose (Oenothera speciosa) is native to the central U.S. and northern Mexico. This upright perennial blooms with white to pink, four-petaled flowers that open in the evening and close in the morning. The Mexican evening primrose grows to 3 feet tall and thrives in full sun and a variety of soils.

Shrubs

• White-flowering shrubs can be used as hedges or screens, or to define borders or walkways in the garden. The bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), an ornamental shrub native to the Southeastern U.S., blooms with long clusters of white, four-petaled flowers. Bottlebrush buckeyes also produce smooth fruits that contain three brown seeds. This deciduous shrub's leaves are toxic if ingested.

  The possumhaw holly (Ilex decidua) grows as a large shrub or small tree. This deciduous plant produces small, white, four-petaled flowers that precede bright red berries. Possumhaws grow from 3 to 16 feet tall with and similar spread and prefer moist to wet soils and full sun to partial shade.

Wildflowers

• Wildflowers grow naturally in a variety of habitats, but some white-blooming species can be cultivated in the garden as well. The false goat's beard (Astilbe biternata) grows from 2 to 6 feet tall and blooms with tall, hairy stalks of four- to five-petaled, white flowers. False goat's beard, a perennial, flowers from late spring through early summer. Plant in light to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil.

  The white or butterfly gaura (Gaura lindheimeri) grows from 2 to 5 feet tall. This perennial produces white flowers that resemble butterflies; the flower's four petals are set in an almost-horizontal row with long, white stamens below. White gauras blooms from spring to midsummer and thrive in partial shade and moist, well-drained soil.

Invasive Species

• These four-petaled, white-flowered plants grow aggressively and can overtake other, more desirable species. The Virginia buttonweed (Diodia virginiana) grows into a dense, hardy mat of foliage. This wildflower can overtake turfgrass and is considered an invasive species in some regions. Virginia buttonweeds produces tiny, white, star-shaped flowers that grow above- and below-ground. These four-petaled blossoms self-pollinate. This weed thrives in poorly drained areas and resists mowing.

  The perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) is also invasive in some regions. This wildflower grows to almost 6 feet tall and produces tiny, four-petaled white blossoms. Perennial pepperweeds have toothed, green foliage and, like the Virginia buttonweed, can spread from below and above the ground.