Sweet Alyssum
Lobularia maritima · brassicas
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is an annual in the brassicas.
When do I plant this? →
Plan this in your garden →
What the corpus records
- Mature height
- 8–25 cm3–10 in
- Mature spread
- 15–30 cm6–12 in
- Days to maturity
- 50–70
- Light
- Part sun
- Feeding
- Light feeder
- Root depth
- Shallow
- Frost tolerance
- Half hardy
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Habit
- Groundcover
- Value to pollinators
- High
Which of these numbers are soft
Every number above carries a confidence tier. These are the ones the corpus does not stand behind — estimated from general knowledge, or contested between sources. They are shown because hiding them would be the dishonest half of showing the rest.
- days to maturity — estimated
- feeder class — estimated
- frost tolerance — estimated
- casts shade — estimated
- ground coverage — estimated
- pollinator value — estimated
- bloom window — estimated
- root depth — estimated
Rules that apply to Sweet Alyssum
PromisingDo not plant brassicas in ground that held brassicas within 4 years (extension recommends 4-7, and even that is not a cure).
costly if ignored → warn
Mechanism: Plasmodiophora brassicae forms thick-walled resting spores that survive in soil more than 10 years. They germinate in wet, acidic soil (pH < 7); liming above ~7.2 suppresses infection. Spores outlast any garden rotation, so a host-free break reduces but does not clear inoculum.
Evidence: confirmed against 3 sources in the research-based literature.
the 3 sources
NC State Extension, 'Clubroot of Brassicas', content.ces.ncsu.edu/clubroot-of-brassicas (read 2026-07-11): 'Plasmodiophora brassicae is capable of surviving in the soil for more than 10 years by producing thick-walled, resting spores'; 'Infested fields should be rotated away from brassica for a minimum of 4-7 years, but this is not guaranteed to prevent disease'; 'Liming to raise soil pH to 7.[2]'.
Cornell Vegetables, 'Clubroot of Crucifers', vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/clubroot-of-crucifers (read 2026-07-11): 'the pathogen survives for many years even in the absence of host crops'; 'rotation of at least 7 years out of susceptible crucifers may be effective.'
UMass Extension, 'Brassicas, Clubroot', ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/brassicas-clubroot (read 2026-07-11): 'Long (5-7 years) rotations between brassica crops'; 'Maintain a high pH by regular applications of lime.'
remedy
Plant brassicas in different ground, or wait at least 4 years — extension recommends 4 to 7. Rotation alone is not a cure: the resting spores outlast it, and raising soil pH above ~7.2 suppresses infection.
Read the full rule → · open in the planner ↗
A good hunchA specialist pest or pathogen finds and builds on a continuous single-family host patch more readily than one broken by non-host families.
suboptimal if ignored → advise
Mechanism: Resource concentration - a specialist locates and holds its host more efficiently at higher host density and continuity, so an unbroken run of one family across adjacent beds is an easier target than the same family separated by a non-host (associational resistance).
Evidence: confirmed against 2 sources in the research-based literature.
the 2 sources
Root 1973, 'Organization of a plant-arthropod association in simple and diverse habitats: the fauna of collards (Brassica oleracea)', Ecological Monographs 43:95-124 (abstract read by the maintainer 2026-08-21): proposes 'the resource concentration hypothesis, which states that herbivores are more likely to find and remain on hosts that are growing in dense or nearly pure stands; that the most specialized species frequently attain higher relative densities in simple environments.' This is another rule here's claim and mechanism verbatim.
Elmstrom, Andow & Barclay 1988, 'Flea beetle movement in a broccoli monoculture and diculture', Environmental Entomology 17(2):299-305 (read by the maintainer 2026-08-21): the empirical test on a brassica specialist (the flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae) - immigration ~1.3x faster into monocultures than into dicultures, emigration ~2x faster from dicultures - reported as 'strong, direct support for the hypothesis that host plants are harder to find and easier to lose in vegetationally diverse habitats than in monocultures.'
remedy
Where one family fills adjacent beds in a single season, breaking the run with a non-host family between them lengthens the distance the specialist must travel to the next host. Disclosed, never docked: a continuous single-family block can be the right call anyway - a wind-pollinated crop like corn sets better massed - so the app names the trade-off and leaves the choice to the gardener.
Read the full rule → · open in the planner ↗
PromisingCold-hardy annuals can be sown or transplanted before the last spring frost — hardy crops about three weeks before, half-hardy about two weeks before. Tender crops wait for the frost itself.
suboptimal if ignored → advise
Mechanism: Cold hardiness. Hardy crops tolerate hard frost and half-hardy crops tolerate light frost, so they can occupy the ground weeks before frost-tender crops are allowed in. The offset is measured from the last spring frost.
Evidence: confirmed against 4 sources in the research-based literature.
the 4 sources
University of Illinois Extension, 'Time Your Vegetable Plantings by Cold Hardiness' (2018-03-26), extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2018-03-26-time-your-vegetable-plantings-cold-hardiness: very hardy vegetables 'withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts without injury' (planted earliest in spring); frost-tolerant vegetables 'can withstand light frosts, but not freezing temperatures' (planted a couple of weeks later). LLM-summarised from a read of the page; it establishes the CATEGORIES but states no week offsets.
Colorado State Univ. Extension, GardenNotes #720, 'Vegetable Planting Guide', extension.colostate.edu/resource/vegetable-planting-guide (read 2026-07-25): hardy vegetables go in 'As early as 2-4 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost'; semi-hardy 'As early as 0-2 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost'; tender from seed 'around the date of the average last spring frost'; very tender 'Typically 2+ weeks after'. This is the source that states the offsets in weeks.
Where this rule sits in that range: hardy at 3 weeks is mid-range of CSU's 2-4. Half-hardy at 2 weeks is the EARLIEST EDGE of CSU's 0-2 - the most aggressive planting CSU sanctions, not the middle of it. The rule is inside published guidance at both ends, but it leans early on the half-hardy side and a gardener following it in a cold spring is taking that boundary.
Do not import an offset from another publication's hardiness scheme without checking the category names: CSU has no 'very hardy' tier, so a '4-6 weeks before frost' figure written against a four-tier scheme does not describe CSU's 'hardy'. Categories are not comparable across sources.
Read the full rule → · open in the planner ↗
Another 90 rules in the corpus apply by situation rather than by species — rotation intervals, frost windows, sun, spacing and soil. Read the full evidence page.
Cite this page
Milpa Gardens. "Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)." https://milpa.garden/plants/lobularia-maritima/
A garden-planning corpus: every claim states its evidence grade and links its sources on the page. Cite it with the grade, and add the date you read it.
All plants