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How to grow Sweet alyssum in the UK

A honey-scented carpet of tiny white flowers. Tiny helpful wasps and hoverflies feed on it, then hunt greenfly.

• DifficultyEasy peasy
• WhereBeds or Pots
• Sunfull sun or part shade
• Grows to10cm
• Spacing15cm
• Time to first pickabout 8 weeks
• Typeannual

When to sow, plant and harvest sweet alyssum

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (on the surface) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Sowing it outdoors

1. Pull out any weeds and rake the top of your bed until it's crumbly, like cake crumbs
2. Make a little line in the soil (on the surface) with your finger or a stick
3. Drop the seeds in, about 15cm apart each way
4. Gently cover them with soil and pat it down
5. Water with a watering can that has a sprinkler head
6. Push in a label so you remember what's there

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 15cm apart each way

Top tips for growing sweet alyssum

• Sow it along the edges of a bed, between your veg.
• Press the seeds onto the soil - they need light to come up.

Soil and feeding

Poor soil - really!. Nasturtiums flower best in poor soil. Feed them and you get all leaves and no flowers.

Harvesting and eating sweet alyssum

Just enjoy the honey smell. Trim it with scissors if it gets straggly and it flowers again.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Kale: tiny wasps and hoverflies that eat greenfly and caterpillars
• Purple sprouting broccoli: tiny wasps and hoverflies that eat greenfly
• Cauliflower: tiny wasps and hoverflies that eat greenfly
• Salad leaves: hoverflies that eat greenfly
• Swiss chard: hoverflies that eat greenfly
• Beetroot: hoverflies that eat greenfly
• Strawberries: a living mulch that brings helpers

Saving your own sweet alyssum seed

It does it for you!.

1. Leave a few flowers to set seed - it scatters them itself and new plants pop up next year
2. To move them, dig up the seedlings in spring and replant them where you want them
3. Or shake the dry seed heads into a paper bag in late summer

Where to buy sweet alyssum seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Sweet alyssum questions

When should I sow sweet alyssum in the UK?

In the UK, sow sweet alyssum indoors from early March to mid April or outdoors from early April to mid June. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out sweet alyssum?

Plant sweet alyssum out from early May to mid June.

When can I pick sweet alyssum?

Sweet alyssum is ready from early June to mid October. Just enjoy the honey smell. Trim it with scissors if it gets straggly and it flowers again.

How long do sweet alyssum take to grow?

Roughly 8 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are sweet alyssum easy to grow?

Sweet alyssum are rated 'easy peasy' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.