The tonalities of cream, snow and ivory on the large clusters of small flowers is like lacework! Long lasting and often huge, like clouds, like large balls, or like cones, the blossoms of shade loving hydrangeas in candid and bright milky hues create a “wedding day” but also “old world” effect! No wonder they’re favorites in both quintessential and casual garden settings.

Positioned next to darker, almost noir foliage, they introduce a captivating visual contrast.

Their adaptability allows them to blend seamlessly with vibrant blossoms, or even take center stage in in a monochromatic white garden.

A noteworthy feature of these luminous petals of white-flowered hydrangeas is their ability to capture and reflect light, casting a soft luminescence over even the most shadowed corners of your garden.

But there’s more than whiteness to snow colored hydrangeas… There are many types, shapes, from trees to vines and shrubs, like mountain, lacecap, oak leaf, and of course the well known smooth varieties!

With lush and dense foliage, easy to grow and massive blooms, you only need to find that hydrangea variety with candid white blossoms for you and your garden. And it is hiding in plain sight in the list of hydrangeas with white blooms laid out for you like a string of pearls!

1. ‘Annabelle’ Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangeaarborescens ‘Annabelle’)

‘Annabel’ is one of the most popular varieties of smooth hydrangea with white blooms all over the world, and there is a good reason for this! Its candid white and round inflorescences are really spectacular…

2. ‘Onyx Zebra’ Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophilla ‘Onyz Zebra’)

3. ‘Lanarth White’ Lacecap Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lanarth White)

For a variety with a lot of originality, you could have a look at ‘Lanarth White’ lacecap hydrangea… It will form flat clusters which start in June, and they have two different types of flowers. Those in the middle are very small, almost like dots, and they have shades of pinkish mauve to bluish.

4. Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Oak leaf hydrangea is not as popular a variety as the very common smooth hydrangea, but if you are a lover of this genus of flowering shrubs, you will certainly know that this is unfair!

5. Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris)

Not all hydrangeas are shrubs, and climbing hydrangea, a species native of Asia, is the living proof! This strong deciduous climber hangs on to trellises and other structures, using aerial rootlets. And it fills them with the most elegant and lace like white blossoms ever.

6. ‘Grandifolra’ Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’)

Meet the giant of genus, panicle hydrangea ‘Grandiflora’! In fact, it is so large, and its trunk is so strong and woody that it can literally be a tree!

7. ‘Incrediball’ Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Incrediball’)

Closely related to the historic ‘Annabel’, ‘Incrediball’ smooth hydrangea is a more recent cultivar and an “improved version” of the white queen…The globular clusters look like massive snow balls, because you cannot see any gap between the hundreds of flowers they contain! They are almost spherical in shape and huge in size, about 12 inches across (30 cm)!

8. ‘Tardiva’ Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangeapaniculata ‘Tardiva’)

‘Tardiva’ panicle hydrangea is a perfect companion for late season garden days! It is extremely elegant, thanks to its long and pointed, conical inflorescences with a very upright habit, so they point to the sky! What is more, these clusters contain both small, sessile flowers and larger sterile ones with lovely round petals – snow shite in color, of course.

9. ‘Beni-Gaku’ Mountain Hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata ‘Beni-Gaku’)

Ok, ‘Beni-Gaku’ mountain hydrangea is quite colorful, but wait before skipping it… If you want white with other shades mixed in, it is maybe the best variety you can choose. It is one of those hydrangeas with two types of blossoms, like lacecap…

10. ‘Gatsby Moon’ Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Gatsby Moon’)

If you like really packed inflorescences, ‘Gatsby Moon’ oak leaf hydrangea may be the variety you fall in love with. Lasting from early summer to early fall, the flowers in the clusters really compete for space, despite these being 12 inches long (30 cm). The shape is unusual, like an ice cream cone, quite bulgy at the bottom and then tapering to a fine point at the end…

11. ‘Snow Queen’ Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’)

‘Snow Queen’ is another very popular variety of oak leaf hydrangea, originally from North America, with an elegance, a personality and a decorative value that is quite distinctive. An early starter, you will see the first conical clusters appear in late spring, but this only extends its blooming season.

12. ‘Snowflake’ Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’)

So far, all the varieties we have seen, different though they are, have something in common: they are all single! So, I thought it fair to conclude with a striking double one: enter ‘Snowflake’ oak leaf hydrangea! The individual flowers look like little pagoda roofs, with a very geometric shape, the petals arranged in layers – and quite a few of them.