Alyssum Snow
Lobularia maritima
Carpet of snow
Alyssum Carpet of Snow
Alyssum Carpet of Snow (Lobularia maritima), white, annual. Also called sweet alyssum, carpet flower.
January - September 2022
Planted January 2022, McKenzie seeds
Drying up in the heat of summer, and almost entirely dried up back from holiday in September.
Journal 2022
- January
- 23: Planted
- February
- 1: Seedlings emerging, 1-2 cm height
- 8: Up tp 1 inch.
- March
- 12: about 10 cm.
- 14: pinched
- 25: Watered thoroughly in preparation of 10 days holiday.
- April
- 3 r: Back from holiday, it looks not so good. Will watch for several days before deciding to keep or to let go.
- 6: It seems like all the white one are dead. And most of the yellow one are fine. Removed all dead plants and dead foliages. Remove the small rock, top up with indoor mix.
- May
- On May, when the plants flower and they are white. So it was the other alyssum, the carpet of snow, that are alive. This one has been removed since 6 Apr.
- 7:It has been flowering for a while but always removed to make foliage bushier. But now buds are kept blooming.
- 9: tranferred to railing container. Together with candytuft.
- 13: Repotted. With store bought purple alyssum.
- 16: Beautiful white flowers have been with us for a while now.
- June
- 24: It's been blooming beautifully but now it's scraggly and only the tip has flowers. Not looking too nice. Hard prune 2/3 of the length.
- September
- 19: Let go.
Care
- Full sun, but doesn't like prolonged dry period. 6-8 hours of sun a day.
- Moist soil, well-draining. Tolerant of planting location, including sandy beaches and dunes, even wall cracks. Do not like boggy soil with poor drainage.
- Water least an inch a week. More if the air is dry. Drain well, susceptible to root rot
- White and yellow alyssum have different fertilizing requirement. For white alyssum in container, feed monthly with water-soluble well balanced fertilizer. Slow release fertilizer when planting and after bloom spent. For yellow one, unless the soil very lean, doesn't need fertilizing. Too much fertilizer can cause poor flowering and scraggly growth.