Sweet alyssum
Flower · cool season · also called lobularia
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 1 week before your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 50 days after planting out.
Low border plant that feeds beneficial insects all season.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
Not edible.
- Sun
- Part sun (4–6 hours)
- Spacing
- 6 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 45°F
- Time to harvest
- About 50 days
- Containers
- At least 1 gallons
- Plant family
- Cabbage family (brassicas)
- Seeds keep
- About 4 years
Companions
Keep apart: the tomato family (nightshades). Cabbage-family crops and tomatoes compete and can stunt each other.
Keep apart: Strawberry (June-bearing), Strawberry (everbearing). Cabbage-family crops can stunt strawberries.
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Plant flowers with your vegetables. Zinnias, sweet alyssum, dill, and marigolds bring in bees, plus the ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies that eat aphids and caterpillars.
- Cover crops before the bugs find them. Put row cover or insect netting over cabbage, kale, and other greens the day you plant. It keeps out cabbage moths and flea beetles with no spraying at all.
- Move crop families every year. Pests and diseases build up in the soil. Don't plant tomatoes where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplant grew last year: they're one family and share the same problems.
Sweet alyssum seeds on Amazon (opens a new tab)Insect netting on Amazon (opens a new tab)Floating row cover on Amazon (opens a new tab)Bt caterpillar spray on Amazon (opens a new tab)
Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.