Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia)
Sweet alyssum plants require little maintenance. While alyssum is relatively maintenance-free, it will do poorly on boggy sites and where inadequate moisture is provided.
Sweet Alyssum Flowers – Tips For Growing Sweet Alyssum
Few annual plants can match the heat and drought hardiness of sweet alyssum. The flowering plant has naturalized in the United States and thrives in a wide range of regions. Sweet alyssum flowers are so named for their lively fragrance and are members of the mustard family. While not frost-tolerant, sweet alyssum plants will self-sow and can provide you with year after year of bright color in milder climates.
Sweet Alyssum Plants
Sweet alyssum flowers (Lobularia maritima syn. Alyssum maritimum) are useful in alpine rock gardens, borders, planters, hanging baskets, and dry zones. They are small plants that may get 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm.) tall and produce clusters of tiny flowers in clumps. The blooms come in pink, salmon, purple, white, and yellow. Flowers arise from June to October and can be encouraged to rebloom by cutting back spent flowers.
How to Grow Alyssum
Growing sweet alyssum requires well-drained soil with moderate moisture. The plants are tolerant of many types of soils and make a cheerful accent in many situations.
Start from seed in early spring in seed flats indoors and transplant after the danger of frost has passed. Surface sow the tiny seed and keep lightly moist until germination, which is usually 15 to 20 days. When the seedlings have several pairs of true leaves and soil temperatures are at least 60 F. (16 C.) degrees, transplant them into a prepared garden bed.
Learning how to grow alyssum is easy and a packet of seeds is cheaper than purchasing bedding plants.
How to Plant Alyssum
Learning how to plant alyssum is easy. You can also plant sweet alyssum flowers from seed straight into the garden in mild climates. Choose a location that has full sun, although sweet alyssum plants can tolerate partial shade as well.
Prepare the soil prior to planting by weeding, working in organic amendments, and raking out any obstructions. Before transplanting your seedlings, check the drainage in your soil by digging a hole and filling it with water. If soil doesn’t drain quickly, work in compost, leaf litter, or grit, such as sand, to increase the porosity of the soil.
Keep the bed weed-free to reduce competition for resources and provide even moisture.
Sweet Alyssum Flower Problems
Sweet alyssum plants require little maintenance. While alyssum is relatively maintenance-free, it will do poorly on boggy sites and where inadequate moisture is provided.
It is prone to few pest problems but may get stem rot or leaf blight where too much shade prevents the leaves and soil from drying out. Botrytis blight is a particular problem of sweet alyssum plants when they are grown in overly wet areas.
Trim back the stems after blooming for an endless display of colorful, sweet alyssum flowers.
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia)
The honey-scented flowers of sweet alyssum make this easy-care annual a delightful addition to hanging baskets, containers, or border edges. It’s a compact, trailing plant that grows just 6 to 10 inches tall and produces trusses of gorgeous blooms in shades of pink, white, lavender, or purple. Sweet alyssum is also highly attractive to butterflies and other pollinators. This rugged annual flower is also relatively cold hardy so you can use it in the early spring when the temperatures hover in the 40s and 50s.
Sweet Alyssum Questions?
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Sweet Alyssum Growing Instructions
Plant sweet alyssum in a sunny spot, with rich, well-drained soil. If you are using sweet alyssum in a pot or planter use a quality potting soil mix. Water sweet alyssum whenever the soil feels dry to the touch. In mid-summer the plants may produce fewer blooms. To encourage a new flush of flowers, shearing them back to remove faded blooms and shaggy growth.
- Water Medium water needs
- Light Outside: Sun
- Colors Pink Purple White
- Special Features Attracts butterflies Groundcover Super-easy to grow
Complement your Sweet Alyssum
Pansy
In the early spring, mix Pansy and Sweet Alyssum together in the same pot.
Flowering Kale
Sweet Alyssum looks wonderful planted with Flowering Kale in the early spring or fall.
Dusty Miller
Create a tapestry of silver and white by pairing Dusty Miller with white-flowering varieties of Sweet Alyssum.
Calceolaria
Use fragrant sweet alyssum as an adorable carpet around unique calceolaria. Purple alyssum with yellow calceolaria is a show-stopping spring combination!
Our favorite varieties
Blushing Princess Sweet Alyssum
Lobularia ‘Blushing Princess’
A knockout in the garden, containers, or hanging baskets, Blushing Princess tolerates heat to bloom all summer with light pink fragrant flowers. It spreads/trails about 3 feet across.
YOLO Top White
Lobularia YOLO Top White
A top performer in our Trial Garden, YOLO Top White practically covered itself in fragrant white blooms all spring long. It spreads/trails to about 24 inches.
Dark Knight Sweet Alyssum
Lobularia ‘Dark Knight’
Wow! A top performer in our Florida Trials, this sweet alyssum held up to heat and bloomed nonstop, creating a dense display of rich purple flowers. It grows 6 inches tall and 18 inches wide.
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