Planting guide

When to plant sweet alyssum

A honey-scented carpet of tiny flowers that edges beds and fills pots. In Melbourne it goes in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Flowers in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: white, purple, pink
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means sweet alyssum can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
London	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant sweet alyssum

Scatter seed on the surface and press in; it needs light to sprout.
Thin to 20cm or leave dense for edging.
Shear back after each flush of flowers.
Let it self-seed between veg rows.

Sweet alyssum varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Carpet of Snow Classicheirloom · 15–17 wksWhite flowers, about 15cm tall
Royal Carpet Classicheirloom · 6–9 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
Magic Circles Mix Classicheirloom · mixed · 6–9 wksMixed colours
Mountain Gold Classic6–9 wksYellow flowers
Rosie O'Day Classic6–9 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection