Rosie O'Day Sweet Alyssum Seeds (Lobularia maritima)

Lobularia maritima “Rosie O'Day”

Sweet alyssum, seaside alyssum, sea lobularia, silver basket: this small ground-covering plant gives off such a pronounced honey fragrance that it is often detected by scent before it is seen. The “Rosie O'Day” selection offers a vivid pink version with a slight violet tint, brighter than the classic white.

Characteristics:

• Honey fragrance: its sweet, delicate scent fills borders and windowsills.
• Compact growth: a dense mat 10 to 15 cm tall, ideal for borders, rock gardens, or pots.
• Very floriferous: it literally covers itself with flowers for months.

Sowing advice:

• Exposure: sunny, essential for abundant flowering.
• Soil: light, poor to average, and especially well drained — this is a plant of shorelines and sandy soils. It tolerates dry conditions and alkaline soil, but does not tolerate stagnant moisture. No fertilization is necessary.
• Method: sow directly in place in spring, or under cover from February onward. No stratification: germination is quick, taking 8 to 15 days at 15–20 °C. Barely cover the seeds. See how to sow your seeds.

Care advice:

• Water moderately. Trim back lightly after the first flush of flowers to encourage a second one.

Beneficial pairings:

• This is an excellent companion plant for the vegetable garden: sown at the base of lettuces, radishes, or cabbages, it attracts hoverflies, whose larvae devour aphids. It also pairs well with dwarf nasturtium. See our vegetable garden companion plantings.

Benefits for biodiversity:

• Its tiny clustered flowers are particularly accessible to small short-tongued pollinators: hoverflies, micro-hymenopterans, and solitary bees, which are often overlooked by large flowers.
• Its very long flowering period makes it a reliable resource for almost the entire season, a real asset for beneficial garden insects.

Uses:

• Borders, rock gardens, windowsills, balconies, pots, and decorative ground cover. Perfect for sensory gardens thanks to its fragrance.

Symbolism:
Sweet alyssum has historically been associated with gentleness and peace. Its soothing fragrance made it a favorite in old monastery gardens.

Harvesting your own seeds:
Let a few flower stems develop their small round seed pods, then harvest them once they are brown and dry, before they open. Sweet alyssum sometimes self-seeds from one year to the next. See how to store your seeds.

Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and sort and package them with care, without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to save seed, year after year, from seeds that truly belong to them.

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