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How to grow sweet alyssum

Takes light frost · Cabbage family

When to sow and plant

  • Start indoors 8–15 March
  • Plant out 5–12 April

Based on: average for Germany, last frost 19 April, safe from 6 May

Planting calendar for your area
Where the dates come from

The weeks come from our sources; the dates use the average frost in Germany. Enter a German postcode to get dates for your area.

  • Start indoors: 5–6 weeks before the last frost (NC State Extension Plant Toolbox: Lobularia maritima)
  • Plant out: 1–2 weeks before the last frost (UW–Madison Extension: Sweet alyssum, Lobularia maritima)

Good and bad neighbours

Good neighbours · 1

Crop rotation

After the cabbage family, leave the bed free of it for at least 4 years (sources: 4–5 years).

  • The same species should go back to the same spot after a break of 3 years at the earliest.
  • Example: grown here in 2026, again from 2031.
  • If clubroot has appeared in the bed: no plants of the cabbage family for at least 7 years, not even mustard as green manure.

At a glance

Family
Cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
Frost
Half-hardy, tolerates light frost
Spacing (row × plant)
– × 18 cm (– × 7 in)
Life cycle
Annual

Questions and answers

When can I plant out sweet alyssum?

Plant out, average for Germany: 5–12 April. Enter a German postcode above for your area, or your own frost date in the planting calendar.

How far apart should I plant sweet alyssum?

– × 18 cm (– × 7 in) (row × plant), according to Johnny's Selected Seeds: Sweet Alyssum Flower Seed.

What grows well next to sweet alyssum?

Butterhead lettuce, Loose-leaf lettuce, Iceberg lettuce: Good neighbour (B).

How long a break do sweet alyssum need in the same bed?

After the cabbage family, leave the bed free of it for at least 4 years (sources: 4–5 years). The same species should go back to the same spot after a break of 3 years at the earliest.

More from the cabbage family

Sources

Show 8 sources
  1. RHS Plants: Lobularia maritima
  2. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox: Lobularia maritima
  3. Johnny's Selected Seeds: Sweet Alyssum Flower Seed
  4. UW–Madison Extension: Sweet alyssum, Lobularia maritima
  5. Landwirtschaftskammer Schleswig-Holstein: Fruchtfolge im Garten (Gartenmerkblatt, 2020)
  6. Südtiroler Bauernbund: Merkblatt Fruchtfolgen im Gemüsebau (Oktober 2022)
  7. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (über die GBIF-API, species/match)
  8. RHS (Guy Barter): Three ways to use companion planting

Retrieved on 23 October 2026. Facts in our own words, one source per value.