If you're interested in alyssum, growing it from seed, or when to plant it, you've come to the right place. We'll tell you what this plant is, how and when to plant it, and how this wonderful and beautiful honey plant can benefit your garden.
Benefits of Alyssum in the Garden
Its advantages extend beyond the ability to create beautiful flowering carpets and attract bees as a honey plant. It's also an easy-to-grow, drought-resistant plant, perfect for gardens where owners rarely visit and can't afford to fully care for the plants.
Alyssum is not at all demanding when it comes to soil or watering, but it's best to provide it with loose, fertile soil, choosing a well-lit area, as it blooms much less well and isn't as beautiful in the shade.
There's another interesting variety of alyssum, the sea alyssum. It requires no watering at all; occasional rain is sufficient, though sparingly during droughts. As for fertilizing, annuals require 3-4 feedings per season, while perennials only need one in the spring. To maintain a beautiful shape, it needs to be pruned several times throughout the season, which will also prolong the flowering period.
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Growing from seeds
Rock alyssum, for example, can be planted simply by sowing seeds, scattering them over a rocky surface after fertilizing it with calcium. Simply pressing the seeds with your palm is sufficient; there's no need to cover them with soil, as alyssum seeds require plenty of sun to germinate.
In a week, you'll see sprouts appear. After another week, thin the plants, leaving 10-15 centimeters between the sprouts. This will encourage better flowering and prevent powdery mildew. Soon, in about a month or a month and a half, you'll see the alyssum bloom.
Growing from seedlings
You can significantly speed up flowering by using the seedling method. In March or April, fill any suitable containers with a light potting mix, water the soil, scatter the seeds over the surface, press them gently with your palm, water again with a watering can, cover with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place until the sprouts emerge. After a week, remove the plastic wrap and expose the containers to light. Once three true leaves appear, you can transplant them into individual containers, feeding them lightly with a complete fertilizer once every week or so.
In May, begin bringing the plants out a little at a time to harden off, and by the end of the month, the young plants can be transplanted into the garden. By this time, the bushes should have grown to about 15 centimeters and become strong, so relocation won't be a problem. Prepare the bed, fertilize, loosen the soil thoroughly, dig small holes about 15 centimeters apart, and transplant your alyssum.
By the way, the bushes also propagate beautifully by cuttings. Dig up the old bushes in April and carefully divide them into sections, but make sure each section has several buds. Space the bushes about 30 centimeters apart.
Alyssum is so undemanding and cold-resistant, some species can stand with their leaves all winter long – how can you not grow it in your garden!
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Pests and diseases
Alyssum can become diseased if planted in heavy soil without drainage, which will cause root rot, or if overwatered, which can make it susceptible to fungal diseases. This can be prevented by treating the soil with fungicides before planting.
You need to keep a close eye on your pets; alyssum can be damaged by cabbage whites, cabbage moths, and cabbage whites, and it's also a favorite of cruciferous flea beetles. But these are rare occurrences; with proper care, alyssum will generally delight its owners all summer long without any problems.
Alyssum looks beautiful in group plantings, pairing perfectly with irises, phlox, delicate forget-me-nots, and late-flowering tulips. Alyssum is also an excellent choice for balconies, placed in pots or special containers.
• To ensure that alyssum blooms beautifully and for a long time, in the spring you need to remove all of last year’s old flower stalks from the bushes and water it moderately so that it does not shed its flowers prematurely.
• Once flowering has finished, remove the flower stalks, and after a while it may bloom again.
• Apply nitrogen fertilizers to the alyssum twice a year (you can simply buy complex ones).
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