Moxie Gardener

Sweet alyssum is a popular plant for containers and the borders of flower gardens.

Sweet alyssum is an ideal plant for edging flower gardens or for the edges of containers. It grows just a few inches high and eventually flops over in an attractive way that many find charming.

Alyssum is one of the most popular container plants because of its small growth habit. Don’t be fooled though, it may be small but it commands attention.

The tiny, dainty flowers bloom continuously from late spring right up until a hard killing frost effectively ends the growing season.

A member of the Cruciferous family, sweet alyssum is classified botanically as Alyssum maritima. Although it is almost always referred to by its first name, it is sometimes called “candytuft.”

Sweet alyssum is also available in pastel pink, lavender, and purple varieties. A perennial variety produces similarly shaped yellow flowers.

Alyssum is a natural for lazy gardeners because it self-seeds itself and will begin to come up in mid spring after the soil has warmed up a bit. If you want earlier blooms, you can start it from seed indoors about 4 to 6 weeks before your last spring frost.

Plant candytuft in full sun to part shade. In hotter areas of the county they will appreciate partial shade, particularly during the hottest months of summer. Plants grown in partial to mostly shade will grow less vigorously, but will still produce a respectable amount of flowers.

Feed them regularly to keep the flowers coming. It is best to use a liquid fertilizer or a tea made from manure or compost. This will help you to avoid damaging the roots of the plants when you cultivate to incorporate granular fertilizer.

Alyssum begin to look leggy as they grow larger and will benefit from a good trimming about half way through the growing season. Cut the plants back by about half. This will force them to branch out and they will produce many more flowers.

The “sweet” in sweet alyssum comes from its subtle fragrance. Like other subtly sweet-smelling flowers, it is best planted near an entrance or patio where its lovely scent can be enjoyed by all who pass by. Like so many other white flowers, it seems to exude more fragrance at night.

Alyssum is a good plant to include in a moonlight garden…but that’s another post.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 5:24 PM and is filed under Flowers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.