White Flowers for Church Decoration

In Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary, Patteson-Knight and St. Claire provide a list entitled, "Flowers Suitable for Church Decoration According to Color".

The first category on the list is white flowers. They are wonderful for church decoration because of the way they catch the light and because of their connotation of purity and innocence. I was surprised, however, to see some of the plants on the white flower list. One was geraniums, which I have never seen used in church. Moreover, I have some white geraniums in my garden and have found they do not last very long as cut flowers.

On the other hand, I was happy to see several flowers listed I'd never heard of. One of them was Ismene, which gets its name from Greek mythology. It is also called Peruvian Daffodil and is from the amaryllis family. Pictured above, Ismene is certainly a lovely bloom.

Here is Patteson-Knight and St. Claire's list of white flowers:

Amaryllis
Anemone
Aster
Azalea
Calla lily
Camellia
Carnation
Chrysanthemum
Clove pinks (grouped)
Cyclamen
Daffodil
Dahlia
Daisy (Boston or Shasta)
Delphinium
Foxglove
Gardenia
Geranium
Gladiolus
Hyacinth
Hydrangea
Iris
Ismene
Larkspur
Lilac
Lily (Madonna and Auratum)
Magnolia
Peony
Petunia
Phlox
Poinsettia
Ranunculus
Rhododendron
Rose
Scabiosa
Snapdragon
Stock
Sweetpea
Sweet William
Tulip
Viburnum
Yucca
Zinnia

Source:
Patteson-Knight, Francis, and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper & Bros., New York, 1961); p. 39.

Image:
Ismene, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.