Sweet Alyssum

This is another new ($2) addition to the pots I have attached to the fence and a perfect contender for my next entry in Becky’s ‘In the Pink’ Square in September photo challenge.

– ⋅ o ♥ o ⋅ –

The plant with these cute little flowers is referred to as either Sweet Alyssum or Sweet Alison because it was originally classified as Alyssum.  These days though it has been reclassified and now goes by the scientific name Lobularia maritima, and it’s a ground cover belonging to the Brassicaceae family of flowering plants.  This family is also known as the mustards, crucifers, or cabbage family and, I must admit, it’s hard to imagine this tiny little thing is related to a cabbage, but it is.

New classification aside, I’ll just refer to it as Alyssum.

Alyssum flowers are typically small and grouped in clusters, they are often white but can also be pink or purple.  I do have white and purple, as well as lilac and now this lovely magenta variety.

The beauty about this plant is that dense clusters of these sweetly smelling, four-petaled flowers usually cover a mound of foliage from spring through to early summer.  They are both heat and drought hardy and perfect for my garden because they self-sow and have provided me with year-round colour in the garden.  (Sorry to be bragging about the sub-tropical climate in which I live.)

Alyssum flowering is often so profuse that the masses of these tiny little flowers totally hide the foliage.  I’ve had them create blankets of colour in my garden bed. A perfect reward for a $2 outlay.