Sweet Alyssum

Sweet Alyssum: The Fragrant Ground Cover That’s Hard to Resist

If you’ve ever walked past a garden border and caught a whiff of something that smells like honey mixed with a hint of sea breeze, you’ve probably encountered sweet alyssum. This charming little plant, scientifically known as Lobularia maritima, has been winning over gardeners for generations with its delicate flowers and intoxicating fragrance.

What Exactly is Sweet Alyssum?

Sweet alyssum is a low-growing flowering plant that belongs to the mustard family. Don’t let that fool you though – there’s nothing spicy about this sweet-scented beauty! It’s a forb, which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a soft-stemmed plant without woody tissue. You might also hear it called by its former botanical names like Alyssum maritimum, but Lobularia maritima is the current correct name.

This little charmer can behave as either an annual or perennial depending on your climate. In most areas, it acts as an annual, completing its life cycle in one growing season, but in milder climates, it can stick around as a perennial.

Where Does Sweet Alyssum Come From?

Sweet alyssum isn’t native to North America – it originally hails from the Mediterranean region, where it grows wild along coastal areas. However, it has made itself quite at home across North America, now growing in almost every U.S. state and several Canadian provinces including British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. You can find it thriving everywhere from Arizona to Alaska (well, almost!).

Since it’s a non-native species that reproduces on its own in the wild, sweet alyssum has earned the status of a naturalized plant in North America.

Why Gardeners Love Sweet Alyssum

There are plenty of reasons why sweet alyssum has become such a garden favorite:

• Incredible fragrance: The honey-sweet scent is strongest in the evening and can perfume an entire garden area
• Long blooming season: It flowers from spring until the first hard frost
• Low maintenance: Once established, it’s quite drought tolerant and doesn’t need much fussing
• Versatile: Works beautifully as ground cover, in rock gardens, containers, or spilling over walls
• Pollinator magnet: Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects absolutely love it

What Does Sweet Alyssum Look Like?

Picture a carpet of tiny, delicate flowers in white, pink, or purple, each bloom no bigger than your pinky nail. The flowers have four petals and grow in dense, rounded clusters. The plant itself stays low to the ground, typically reaching only 3-6 inches tall but spreading 6-12 inches wide, forming neat little mats of color and fragrance.

The leaves are small, narrow, and gray-green, but honestly, they tend to disappear under all those flowers when the plant is in full bloom.

Where Sweet Alyssum Shines in Your Garden

Sweet alyssum is like that reliable friend who gets along with everyone and fits in anywhere. Here are some of its best roles:

• Border edging: Creates soft, fragrant edges along pathways and garden beds
• Ground cover: Fills in bare spots and suppresses weeds
• Rock gardens: Tucks beautifully into crevices and cascades over rocks
• Container plantings: Spills gracefully over pot edges
• Gap filler: Perfect for planting between stepping stones or in sidewalk cracks

It’s particularly at home in cottage gardens, Mediterranean-style landscapes, and coastal gardens where its easy-going nature and salt tolerance make it a natural fit.

Growing Sweet Alyssum Successfully

The good news is that sweet alyssum is about as easy-going as plants get. Here’s how to keep it happy:

Light Requirements: Sweet alyssum prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade, especially in hot climates where some afternoon shade actually helps it perform better.

Soil Needs: It’s not picky about soil quality but insists on good drainage. It actually performs better in average to poor soils than in rich, fertile ground.

Water Needs: Once established, sweet alyssum is quite drought tolerant. Water regularly during establishment, then back off and let nature take over for the most part.

Climate Preferences: This cool-weather lover performs best in spring and fall. In hot summer areas, it may slow down or stop blooming during the hottest months but will often perk up again when temperatures cool.

Planting and Care Tips

When to Plant: Direct sow seeds in early spring after the last frost, or in fall in milder climates. You can also start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost.

Planting: Scatter seeds on the soil surface and barely cover them – they need light to germinate. Space plants 6-8 inches apart if transplanting seedlings.

Ongoing Care:

• Deadhead spent flowers to encourage continuous blooming
• In hot climates, shear the plant back by half in midsummer to encourage fresh growth
• Allow some flowers to go to seed if you want it to self-sow for next year
• No fertilizer needed – it actually prefers lean conditions

USDA Hardiness Zones

Sweet alyssum is typically grown as an annual in most areas, but it can overwinter as a perennial in USDA zones 9-11. In colder zones, it will often self-seed and return the following spring, giving you the best of both worlds.

Benefits for Pollinators and Wildlife

Despite its small size, sweet alyssum is a powerhouse for pollinators. Its tiny flowers are perfectly sized for small bees, beneficial wasps, and hoverflies. Butterflies also enjoy visiting, and the long blooming season means it provides a consistent nectar source throughout much of the growing season.

Should You Plant Sweet Alyssum?

Sweet alyssum is generally considered a well-behaved garden plant. While it’s not native to North America, it doesn’t appear on invasive species lists and tends to stay where you plant it rather than taking over natural areas.

That said, if you’re committed to native-only gardening, consider these wonderful native alternatives that offer similar benefits:

• Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) for fragrance and pollinator appeal
• Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) for ground cover with spring flowers
• Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) for shade ground cover
• Local native sedums for rock garden appeal

The Bottom Line

Sweet alyssum is one of those plants that just makes gardening easier and more pleasant. Its sweet fragrance, easy care, and reliable performance have earned it a place in gardens around the world. Whether you’re a beginning gardener looking for something foolproof or an experienced gardener wanting a reliable performer, sweet alyssum delivers season after season.

Just remember to enjoy that incredible fragrance – it’s one of the simple pleasures that makes spending time in the garden so rewarding!