Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-125
Sweet Alyssum
Lobularia maritima
Sweet alyssum is a low, fast-spreading annual grown mainly to draw and hold hoverflies, whose larvae eat aphids, thrips, scale and small caterpillars. Research on organic lettuce found that scattering a modest number of plants through a crop keeps enough hoverflies around to control aphids without hurting yield. Ordinary seed-grown alyssum is a cool-season plant that fades in hot weather, but a heat-tolerant hybrid bred for southern summers stays fresh through the hottest months - at the cost of being sold only as rooted cuttings rather than seed, so it must be rebought every year. The leaves and flowers are also edible with a pungent, peppery bite, though the yield is a garnish rather than a crop.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Groundcover- Soil pH
- 5.5–8.5
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 3–10 in
- Mature spread
- 6–12 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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