Easy to grow from plant or seed, sweet alyssum is a cool-season flower that can be set out in early spring once all danger of frost has passed (in frost-free climates, sweet alyssum can also be grown throughout the fall and winter).

Sweet alyssum is a colorful carpet of tiny flowers that can be used to blanket your garden or landscape.

Lobularia maritima (syn. Alyssum maritimum) is a species of low-growing flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. Its common name is sweet alyssum.

Lobularia maritima is an annual plant (rarely a short-lived perennial plant)  growing to 5–30 cm (2–12 in) tall by 20–30 cm (8–12 in) broad. The stem is very branched, with dense clusters of small flowers. The leaves are 1–4 mm long and 3–5 mm, broad, alternate, sessile, quite hairy, oval to lanceolate, with an entire margin.

Lobularia maritima is cultivated in gardens, with many horticultural varieties with purple or pink flowers.

The plant is best planted in early spring, but requires little maintenance when growing. The petals, leaves, and tender stems of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked.