Sweet Alyssum, a prolific volunteer

Lobularia maritima...nobody calls it that.

Alyssum is a classic garden staple. Available in any nursery all year in California, easy-to-grow is an understatement, mostly pest and problem free, ranges from white to pink to purple flowers, and re-seeds itself.

This is one of my garden favorites because it re-seeds itself readily. It will eventually revert back to its wild, somewhat leggy origins, so I re-seed myself every other year or so. Some varieties from the nursery are sterile so you may not get volunteers the following season. I usually buy a few different seed packs and sprinkle them about. The photo above is this year's garden and all the low white flowers are volunteer alyssum from last year's plants. 

As the older plants become leggy and over grown I pull them out and then shake them over the bed to drop any seeds. By that time there's already seedlings coming up to take their place. In the foreground of the photo you can see the starts coming up between the stepping stones. They will likely be flowering in the next two weeks.

I'm a huge fan of plants that re-seed themselves. Larkspur, Snap Dragons, Lobelia, Cosmos, tomatoes and well, all of them... If they start themselves, chances are they will survive. 

Bodie loves alyssum too