Alyssum benefits from a light shearing around mid-season, after the first flush of blooms, otherwise it can get a bit ratty looking.

Renee

My alyssum will be in full bloom and then the leaves start to shrivel. They look dried out, but aren't as they are well-watered. From there, I can't save them. I have cut them back but its too late. Are you saying to shear them during their bloom? Is not shearing them causing them to shrivel like that?

I suspect they are not as well watered as you think.....
But shearing should help.....but how far are you cutting them back?...not by more than 1/2 I hope.
Linda C

Alyssum prefers cool weather...spring and fall. A shady place during the heat of summer is better for them. If you shear them back, and they make it through summer, they will look spectacular in the cool autumn.

This year I did something different. I planted alyssum in my mixed containers on the deck, in part shade. They spill over and are easy to clip from the bottom...the new flowers keep coming from the top. I like this way better.

It sounds to me they may need more water also. I have some that I plant in full sun (white ones) and they bloom all summer. I do give a hair cut once in a while when they get seedy looking. I also mulch mine to keep the moisture in better.
I have to say I haven't had a lot of luck with the colored alyssum blooming as well as the white ones. Maybe the colored ones are pickier when it comes to the heat.
One more thing I thought of. When you plant them to you loosen the bottoms a little? If plants are root bound, they need to have their roots spread out at the bottom a little so the roots will grow out instead of going in circles.
I hope yours perk up!

Kat

Thanks everybody. Its not a water problem everything in the bed looks super. It must be the heat. You mentioned herbicide problem ... meaning fertilizer? I spray on fertilizer every 2 weeks. If white is hardier I may go with that next year.

No, by 'herbicide' the poster was referring to weed killer, like RoundUp, et al. And I wouldn't spray fertilizer on the alyssum, but that's just me. If you spray it during the heat of the day I suppose it might cause some damage to the foliage - just as it is suggested that you not spray plants with an insecticide in direct sunlight or during the hottest part of the day.
And, I agree - the white (carpet of snow) is much hardier and longer blooming than the purple/pink alyssum. My carpet of snow never seems to stop blooming.

Chipmunks and earwigs LOVE allysum. The scent attracts them, and POW, you have no blooms and a brownsih look!!! May not be YOUR problem, but just a note.

Even if everything else in the bed looks great, your alyssums still might be starved for more water because their root systems are so shallow. The heat and drought in the Midwest has really affected my alyssums this year. They're leggy and wanting a lot of water. I shear them back, but they only get leggy again. I feed them low nitrogen fertilizer, and they still don't bloom well. This summer has just been a nightmare.

I noticed last year the roots were very shallow so this year I planted them very deep but its not helping. They are getting plenty of water thru my sprinklers. It must be that they cannot tolerate hot sunny conditions. In 2002 I planted a pink/purple lobelia border but haven't been able to find it ever since. Any ideas where to get this? Also, any alyssum like plants I could use for the border?

My guess is that it's the heat. Here in zone 8, our alyssum only does well as a cool season annual. It survives the winter just fine and blooms its head off all spring until around June before it starts to look really tired and fried. I have some under my patio that is really leggy with no blooms right now...but it didn't die since it's in the shade and protected somewhat from the intense daytime sun. I have some that have self-seeded and are growing under the canopy of taller plants in some containers...no blooms though.

I would be surprised if heat was your problem, everett. I also garden in zone 5. This is the alyssum in a bed around a birdbath -- picture taken today. The bed gets full sun from about 10am to 6pm,
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Are those white? Apparently from what others have posted, white does better in the sun than purple.

Hmmm, that may indeed be true about the tolerance for sunny conditions, everett. Overall, however, the white seems to be a bit more vigorous a grower. Here's a pic of the same bed from July 13, 04. Note the purple -- they didn't die out for me though the white did wind up filling out more.
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Now in a barrel planter [last year's pic] that received sun from about 9am -1pm [I imagine the spindles of the railing provided a little shade] the purple may indeed have grown a tiny bit better though again the white grew more. Don't really remember for sure. For me, alyssum has always seemed to do better with lots of sun.
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Now as for the alyssum I have there this year, its predominantly white w/ some patches having a purple blush. You see, I didn't plant any alyssum this year. The alyssum in that bed is 100% the result of last year's plants reseeding.

Nice pics. Based on everybody's comments it seems like my problem is the purple variety not tolerating full sun. This bed gets sun from sunrise until 3PM. The beds gets lots of water from sprinklers, and everything else in the bed like petunias, dahlias, portulaca, geranium, and salvia look great. Next year it will be white and not purple in the border!

I have a large circular bed which I edge with Snow Crystals alyssum every year. I put in 100 plants and they started out great till one day I noticed they were starting to look funny. By the time I noticed, they resembled a plant with spider mites, but as I examined it closer, I found tiny hard shelled bugs that look like miniature beetles. They were on every plant. I dusted with sevin, but it didn't seem to help. I lost every plant. Does anyone know what this could be? Mary

Wow, Paul, I wish you'd post pics every day!! Beautiful.

I have some Allysum that have reseeded from last year and they are a larger variety and cascade. I love them but don't know the name.

Great topic, everett. I'm going to go move my purple Allyssum containers to more shade.

you said: They were fully bloomed and bushy in the flats when I planted them.

===>>>>

i would never buy annuals in such condition .. they were well on their way to being spent for the year by the time you planted them ...

you should buy annual stock that has only one or two flowers open ... so you can verify the color of the seed .. and the rest should be all green young plants ...

it will take them a month to get to fully bloomed .. which means they would make it thru august ... and they would be properly spent in september ...

increase water ... slugs can attack them ...

an interesting project would be to plant 2 different beds with young and bloomed plants.. and compare the progress for the year ... then decide what to do the following year ..

ken

Last year I planted Wonderland Purple in my morning sun garden. Was scrawny for awhile, but just went lush in the heat. This year I couldn't find it, ended up with generic blue (almost the same but lighter centers). Did get some reseeding but not enough. They are awesome now, even with the drought and not enough watering. These were six-packs, and both years I didn't get them in the ground as soon as I should have.

Another area that gets sun from about 10 am on, I seeded Carpet of Snow last year. This gets much taller, but had a stronger smell last year. Haven't noticed as much smell this year, but they totally reseeded themselves and filled in as much as last year.

I thought COS was supposed to be short, but it is nowhere near as compact as the Wonderland or this year's generic.

I just planted about 10 window boxes with vinca flowers, vinca vine and allysum. Last year my allysum (white and purple) was so beautiful, I was excited to plant it again. I just planted it last weekend (only white this year), and have watered it each day (although sometimes I am not able to water until evening, and there have been a few hot days) but it still looks dried out. I trimmed back the brown branches last night. The plants have not died yet, but they don't look full and rich with blooms. Am I too unpatient? Will they get better with time? I realize it's only May. Any suggestions?

Hi- I'm new to this forum but I'll tell you what happened to me with white and purple alyssum. I have planted both kinds for years and never had any problems with them in full sun. However, two years ago I noticed them looking generally sick and couldn't put my finger on why. I found out they had "flea beetles" and sprayed them with Malathion. They were set back several weeks but eventually came out of it and thrived the rest of the summer. I watch for flea beetles every year now. It seems the bugs overwinter in the dead plants as well, so now I pull the alyssum in the fall of the year.

Purple has never done well for me. The white Sweet Alyssum is my best all season bloomer in hot dry beds! One of the re-seeders I can count on. I just sheer them when the blooms become faded (as needed) and they only reward me with becoming bigger, fuller huge mounds of snow. These finally are killed back after a hard frost.

If you have flea beetles you won't see them until you get close. They are VERY small and jump very quickly when disturbed. The plants will look dry, brownish, and no amount of trimming will help them. My alyssum come back every year from seed so it has nothing to do with depth of planting. I have both purple and white and they are both in full sun. The flea beetles also move to other plants nearby. They are nasty little bugs!

I am a new at all this stuff and I'm having trouble identifying some of my plant seedlings. The main one that I'm having trouble with is my Alyssums. I am unable to find any kind of picture so I know what not to pull up. Can anyone please help?

My alyssum is the white variety. I have them in planters with about 10 inch of soil underneath. It took a while to start growing but are doing pretty well now, except for they are not flowering. The temperature hear gets up into the 90s but they only get about 60-90 minutes of full sun a day. I water them every day but not too heavily. They flowered a little bit at one point but haven't done so and quite a few weeks. Maybe I need to water more and cut them back?

Dan,

60-90 minutes of full sun in a day might not be enough for alyssum to bloom. Sunshine is critical for growth an d blooms.

Martha

I fertilize my pots around every 2 wks. I get the kind that has the middle number the highest...that's for flowering. I also give the a light 'shave' a few times a season & that helps them perk up. Hot days for a week or so does slow my down, like in the 90s. I also agree with Docmom about the full sun might not be enough for good full blooms.

Kat