A tree with white flowers adds beauty and a touch of magic to your yard or garden. You have many choices of white flowering trees that you can use as an accent or grouping for your home landscaping.
Choose the Right Tree With White Flowers
You may need a tree for patio shade but prefer one that offers white spring flowers. Many of the white flowering trees also provide colorful fall foliage for further enjoyment.
What Kind of Tree Has White Flowers in Spring?
The common kind of tree that has white flowers in spring is often an ornamental. These white flowering trees range from 8' high to as much as 40'-50' high, giving you many stunning choices for all your landscaping preferences.
1. White Dogwood
The white dogwood (Cornus florida) is perhaps the most well-known white flower tree. There are around 60 species of dogwoods (Cornaceae family). The white dogwood tree is one you'll often find in yard landscapes. You can plant for individual showcasing or as a grouping.
- Height: 15'-30'
- Spread: 15'-30'
- Sun: Full to partial shade
- Blooms: April-May
- Fall: Red foliage
- Zones: 5-8
2. Yoshino Cherry Tree
Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus x yedoensis) is also called the Japanese flowering cherry tree. It is featured in various cherry blossom festivals. The tree makes an excellent landscape centerpiece or can be planted near a patio or deck.
- Height: 30'-40'
- Spread: 30-40'
- Sun: Full sun to part shade
- Bloom: March to April
- Fall: Gold and bronze foliage
- Zones: 5-8
3. Southern Magnolia
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is an evergreen with dark green broadleaves. The white flowers are 8"-12" in diameter and have a fragrant aroma. The flowers produce a cone-like fruiting in clusters that are 3"-5" long. The Southern Magnolia is a beautiful showcase tree for any yard.
- Height: 60'-80'
- Spread: 30'-50'
- Sun: Full, partial shade
- Bloom: May to June
- Fall: Evergreen
- Zones: 7- 9
4. Natchez Crape Myrtle Tree
Natchez Crape Myrtle Tree (Lagerstroemia 'Natchez') is known for its showy bloom from summer into fall. This fast-growing tree is often called lilac of the South. When the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, created crape myrtle hybrids, the crape myrtles were named for Native American tribes. You can use this tree for a tall screening with multiple plantings, or line a driveway or walkway.
- Height: 4'-21'
- Spread: 4'-21'
- Sun: Full
- Bloom: July-September
- Fall: Orange to red foliage
- Zones: 7-9
5. Cleveland Pear Tree
The Cleveland Pear Tree is known as the Callery pear, (Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer'). It has a pyramidal and oval shape that matures into a beautiful oval, making it a popular ornamental tree. It is a popular choice for lining street and medians. This tree is often used in groupings along property borders and driveways.
- Height: 25'-35'
- Spread: 13'-16'
- Sun: Full sun
- Bloom: April
- Fall: Reddish-purple
- Zones: 5-9
6. Spring Snow Crabapple
Spring Snow Crabapple tree (Malus 'Spring Snow') is commonly known as crabapple. The Spring snow crabapple doesn't produce any fruit, making it a popular ornamental choice for yard landscapes as an accent tree or you may choose to use in a grouping.
- Height: 20'-25'
- Spread: 15'-20'
- Sun: Full
- Bloom: April
- Fall: Yellow foliage
- Zone: 4- 8
7. Washington Hawthorn
The Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) is a compact tree. While other trees produce new green leaves, the Washington Hawthorn's first spring leaf growth is reddish purple that turns a rich, lush green. The flowers are white clusters and once spent produce brilliant red berries. The branches have thorns, which make this tree a favorite among property owners who wish to create privacy barriers or security plantings. The hawthorn can be pruned to form a hedge that would dissuade most trespassers. You may prefer to use a single tree for landscaping or a grouping of trees.
- Height: 25'-30'
- Spread: 25'-30'
- Sun: Full
- Bloom: Late spring to early summer
- Fall: Mix of orange, red and possibly purple foliage
- Zones: 3'-8'
8. White Rose of Sharon
The White Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus 'Notwoodtwo'-White Chiffon) is a shrubbery that can be grown as a tree. It has a vase shape that makes it a desirable landscaping short tree with multi-stems.
- Height: 5'-8'
- Spread: 4'-6'
- Sun: Full or partial
- Bloom: June-September
- Fall: None
- Zone: 5-8
*Considered invasive in many states.
9. Royal White Redbud
Royal White Redbud (Cercis canadensis f. alba 'Royal White') is a nice addition for a small or large yard. The tree has an appealing vase shape. The flowers are large and fill the branches. When the white flowers stop blooming, the green leaves appear in a beautiful heart-shape. If you want a fast growing tree, the Royal White Redbud will grow up to two feet a year.
- Height: 15'- 25'
- Spread: 15'-25'
- Bloom: April
- Sun: Full, partial
- Fall: Pale yellow, yellow green
- Zone: 4- 9
10. Ornamental White Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry Tree
The White Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry tree (Prunus x 'Snofozam' White) is elegant and cascading. The flowers are a nice fragrance that will perfume your garden, patio, or yard. This tree deserves to be showcased in its sweeping arched waterfall of branches of white flowers. The leaves are dark green.
- Height: 8'-15'
- Spread : 8'-10'
- Sun: Full
- Bloom: April
- Fall: Orange, Red
- Zones: 5-9
11. Japanese Lilac
Japanese Lilac (Syringa reticulata) can typically grown as a small tree. However, many people enjoy it as a very large shrub through pruning. Some gardeners choose this tree to use as a hedge. The creamy white flowers have a cloyingly sweet aroma. The leaves grown in as a dark green and are up to 6" long. The tree makes a great street or lawn tree. You may enjoy plantings by a deck or patio. Small groupings are often used in landscape designs, while pruning the trees into a privacy screen/hedge is another common use in home landscaping.
- Height: 20'-30'
- Spread: 15'- 20'
- Sun: Full
- Bloom: June
- Fall: None
- Zones: 3'-7'
12. Japanese Snowbell
The Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonicus) features horizontal branch and has a round crown. Under the right conditions, it can grow up to 50' high. The white waxy flowers are compact and bell-shaped. They produce a mild fragrance. The gray bark often develops fissures with age to reveal the stunning inner bark that is an orange color. You can use this tree for your yard, prune for a border, or plant in a wooded area in your garden.
- Height: 20'-30'
- Spread: 20'-30'
- Sun: Full, partial
- Bloom: May-June
- Fall: May turn red or yellow
- Zones: 5 to 9
13. Sweet Tea
Sweet Tea (Gordlinia grandiflora) is commonly known as mountain gordlinia or simply as Sweet Tea. It is an intergeneric hybrid made in 2002 by the North Carolina State University Department of Horticultural Science. Sweet Tea is a fast growing hybrid that can be pruned as a multi-stemmed shrub or allowed to grow as a tree. The flowers a cupped or flattened and have a camellia appearance with center egg-yolk yellow stamens. You may choose this white flower tree for an accent addition to your landscaping.
- Height: 20'-30'
- Spread: 8'-15'
- Sun: Full or partial
- Bloom: July-September
- Fall: Yellow, red
- Zones: 7- 9
14. American Fringe White Flowering Trees
American Fringe (Chionanthus virginicus) creamy white flowers produce blue colored berries that create a beautiful addition to your yard. Its green spear-shaped leaves grow up to 8" long. You can plant the tree in your yard or along property borders. Many people plant American Fringe trees around ponds or along a man-made or natural stream.
- Height: 12'-20'
- Spread: 12'-20'
- Sun: Full or partial
- Bloom: May-June
- Fall: Yellow
- Zone: 3 to 9
Trees With White Flowers for Stunning Landscape Choices
If you're wondering what kind of tree has white flowers in the spring, then a list of trees with white flowers can answer your landscaping needs. White flowering trees can add a whimsical and magical appeal to your front yard, garden, or backyard patio enjoyment.
