How to Grow and Care for Sweet Alyssum

Butterflies are one of nature's ballerinas on wings. They flit from one flower to the next with such grace and beauty. They add color and interest to any garden. If you choose the right plants you can encourage their presence every year. Sweet Alyssum is just such a plant. Butterflies lay larvae that need food plants and butterflies themselves feed off of flower nectar. By planting Sweet Alyssum in full sun you can have pretty flowers and butterflies to boot.

Characteristics of Sweet Alyssum

A low branching, trailing annual that grows to one foot tall with long narrow leaves. It blooms small four-pedal flowers that grow in clusters with a honey fragrance. The fragrance is why we call it Sweet Alyssum. Sweet Alyssum blooms from spring to fall in the upper southern part of the United States. In the more tropical areas of the south it may go dormant during the summer and come back in the fall.

Sweet Alyssum is a great annual to use in flowerpots, low stone flower gardens, as a border flower, carpet foliage, or window boxes. They really can be used almost anywhere making them a versatile plant were ever color and a sweet fragrance is appropriate. Remember you also get butterflies as a bonus.

How to Grow and Care for Sweet Alyssum

Grows from seed in approximately six weeks. Very easy and dependable, Sweet Alyssum is grown in almost any soil condition with full sun. Is great for cracks in stonewalls or between flagstones.

About four weeks after the flowers bloom trim the plant back and it will produce more flowers without becoming rangy. Comes in white, pink, lavender and rose colors and does self-sown but they tend to be rangy and colors fade. Best treated as annuals, but the whites do well when self-sown. Most popular varieties of Sweet Alyssum include "Carpet of Snow", "Pink Heather", and "Violet Queen".

Butterfly Gardens

As far as butterflies are concerned be careful not to use pesticides as they harm the larvae. Best results for butterfly gardens are places were there are rocks and crevices, water, some leaf cover and maybe a few weeds. Remember full sun is the most needed element for this pretty annual.

Next time you go out in your garden stop and enjoy the beauty of your flowers, the color of the butterflies and the scent of Sweet Alyssum.

Source: 10,000 Garden Questions, F.F. Rockwell, Editor Copywrite 1944