Sweet alyssum is the small companion that brings big results. Learn how to plant and care for sweet alyssum for natural aphid control, when to sow in your climate, and how to use it around roses, lettuce, and brassicas.
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Sweet alysum. This little flower is a powerhouse. It’s beautiful, smells amazing, and is one of the best companion plants you can add to your garden to help control pests. I’m Angela from Growing in the Garden in Mesa, Arizona. For more desert gardening tips, like, subscribe, and stick around. Sweet alysum is a low growing annual flower that’s super easy to plant. These tiny blooms attract beneficial insects and pollinators like crazy. I love adding it to raised beds, containers, and in ground areas. It grows well just about anywhere. When it grows large like this, you can’t miss the smell. It has a wonderful delicate honeylike fragrance that is sweet without being overpowering. I’m pretty new to roses and had no idea how many aphids they can attract, but I’m used to letting beneficial insects like lace wings and ladybugs handle any aphid problems. So, I didn’t bother spraying them off with water. Now that I know there will be aphids on my roses in the spring, I plant sweet alysum all around them. The alysum has absolutely exploded with growth and the entire area is buzzing with happy insects and bees. The aphits. I’ve spotted a few, but I’m not worried. They’ll be taken care of. I get to sit back and enjoy my roses. Sweet alysum typically thrives in zones 5 through 9. And in milder climates like zones 9 to 11, it may overwinter and act more like a short-lived perennial. It can handle light frost with little trouble, but it won’t survive hard freezes or high heat. In cooler climates, you can start the seeds indoors a few weeks before the last frost, or you can plant seeds outside once the danger of frost is gone. Here in the low desert, plant from October through March. It grows well until it gets hot. Choose a location with plenty of sunlight. Afternoon shade will help it last longer into the summer in hot climates. The most common variety is white, but it also comes in other colors like pink and purple. If you’re seeding directly into the garden, sprinkle the seeds on top of the soil. They need light to germinate. If you have rain expected and cloudy conditions, that’s the perfect time to add some seeds. They’ll sprout quickly, sometimes just in a few days. Once they’re up and growing, thin them out to about 6 to 12 in apart so they don’t overcrowd each other. If you’d rather buy transplants, grab a few small ones at the nursery. They’re easy to find. I always end up buying more than I think I need because inevitably I find a spot for them somewhere. Space plants about a foot apart and keep them well watered until they’re established. Their small root balls can dry out quickly before they really settle in. Once they get going, you’ll see growth pretty quickly. Give them regular water, but be careful not to overwater. They don’t like soggy feet. Other than adding compost and worm castings when I plant, I don’t feed them throughout the growing season. A quick trim halfway through the season encourages a second flush of flowers, but if it’s getting hot, that same trim will stress them out and cause an early death. Many alissum varieties drop seeds and come back the following season. Let some spent flowers remain if you’d like volunteers next year. Alysum blooms are tiny, making them irresistible to hoverflies, ladybugs, and parasitic wasps. These insects and their larvae also love eating aphids among other pests. So, if you’ve got aphids on your lettuce or roses, you’ll have help. When you spend time in your garden each day, take note of these pest cycles. You’ll see the pest and just when you think, “Okay, I’m going to intervene.” Pause and allow the beneficials to help you out. It really does work. Sweet alysum is easy to grow and wonderful to smell. If you’re a fan of natural pest control, you have to grow it. Your vegetables, roses, and the beneficial insects will thank you. Oh, amazing. I said amazing twice. Overpowering. Like the airplanes that we’re listening to, right? They haven’t even stopped.
18 Comments
Good morning from Indio, CA. I absolutely love sweet allysum but this year they have been attacked by the bragada bug. It's such a bummer.
I love this flower. I try different varieties. So far, I have pink, purple and white. It loves reseeding itself.
Thanks! Some of my allysum survived this past summer in a pot that was moved to the shade. They had dead leaves by the end of the summer, but there were still green leaves and flowers that emerged once the super hot weather was done.
Unfortunately I tried to move the plants to a raised bed a couple of weeks ago, and they couldn't handle the move. The new location was also in the shade.
But I'm going to plant more soon, and I believe I can keep them alive all summer again in this shaded location.
❤❤❤❤good morning 🌹🌹🌹🌹
Our house has a brick raised bed at the entrance and growing up i never understood why these white flowers appeared yearly next to our roses. Once year we took them out and had an infestation of ahpids.
These seeds are available in dollar store too 😊 very easy to grow and reseeds itself
Is it edible?
I wish I knew this before my entire cucumber pickle garden was devoured by aphids
I used to have alyssum everywhere in my backyard. It would always reseed itself. After about 10 years all of a sudden flea beetles started attacking it then when to the gaura. I had WILD arugula which had self seeded everywhere and it grows abundantly all year except when I cut it back in the winter. There was NO way I was going to risk my arugula being attacked because of alyssum even though I love it. I can't eat alyssum but wild arugula is one of the easiest food plants to grow which blooms yellow flowers if you don't cut it back. I thought I would just put it in containers but I don't want to risk flea beetle invasion again. They decimated my gaura and killed the alyssum. I don't cover my arugula when it's a baby or any size.It's a fantastic plant and I only planted ONE DECADES ago.
Alyssum is so delicate with its sweet scent. Always have some in containers 🪴 🤍💚
We have these on our list to buy and grow for next year, thank you so much for all of your knowledge and sharing it with us 💜.
🎉❤🎉❤🎉
مشالله تبارك الله 🎉❤🎉
The seeds I started a few weeks ago are just starting to bloom. It is so delicate and softens the look of all the rocks in my garden. If only it would repel the Ibex 🐐 from my rose bushes 😢
Thank you! Subscribed!
Love your videos Angela, packed w info and so easy to follow. Another great vibrant video. I did not know the seeds needed light to germinate. Next Spring I’ll def try again. My roses do get aphids and this yr I tried growing fennel next to them. The beneficials were attracted to the flowers. So I sprinkled the seeds around my veg garden and flower garden. Thank you!
I've never heard of Sweet Alyssum for Aphid control. I need that for my milkweed.
i plant it every year and it even climbs up my fence