Plant Profile: Sweet Alyssum

Plant Profile:  Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima  syn. Alyssum maritimum)

Sweet Alyssum is named for its light, honey-like fragrance, though you may never notice, because it is only a few inches high. Its short stature makes it a good choice for the very front of borders.

Equally at home in hanging baskets as it is in rock gardens, Sweet Alyssum is a wonderful addition to your cool-season annual palette along with pansies, violas, ornamental cabbages and kales, and snapdragons.

It is a great shoulder-season plant for those times of the year (mid-to-late autumn and early spring) when you want a touch of color in the garden, while you go about your outdoor tasks.

It comes in white, pink, and purple blooms. The dainty flowers are a favorite of bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds.

Sweet Alyssum grows easily from seed or purchased plants.

You can plant it in March and shear it back when summer’s heat sets in and then see it come back full-force in October.

Alternatively, you can plant it in fall and leave it to set seed and self-sow about the garden the following spring. (If it plants itself where you do not want it, it is easily pulled up.)

It is very low-care. There is no need to fertilize it. Occasionally, I will pinch back any spent stems to encourage continual blooming.

Sweet Alyssum: You can grow that!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine and edited by intern Jessica Kranz.

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