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Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritime)


Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritime)

This lovely, fragrant ground cover has been a favorite flower of home gardeners for many generations. Alyssum is covered with dainty and very fragrant flowers from early spring through fall. It grows 4-10” tall and 10-12” wide. This plant does best if grown in full sun.

Alyssum is often used as a border, in mass plantings, containers or hanging baskets, and creates a soft, billowy look as it trails over edges. However, Alyssum is also an excellent plant to be included in your vegetable garden. This sweet little flower attracts the “3 P’s” that every home gardener wants in their veggie garden:

  • Pollinators such as honeybees help to fertilize flowers, therefore helping to increase productivity of food crops.

  • Predators such as ladybeetles and soldier bugs consume pests as food.

  • Parasites use pests as nurseries for their young.

Sweet Alyssum is a favorite food source of the Syrphid fly (Hover fly). These little insects are in search of nectar, and when they find a patch of Alyssum they not only feed on the nectar, they scour the leaf undersides, feeding on aphids, mites, mealybugs and others pests. (In other words, Syrphid flies are our friends!) So, plant some Alyssum and you too will attract the “3 P’s” to your garden.

We at Clearwater Color Nursery are growing a wide variety of Alyssum in 6 pack flats. In the ‘Easter Bonnet’ series we are growing ‘Deep Pink’, ‘Deep Rose’, ‘Lavender’, and ‘Violet’. We’re also growing ‘Easter Basket Mix’, ‘Snow Crystals’, and ‘New Carpet of Snow’.

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