ALYssum!!! LOL

Iberis sempervirens, spreading, woody-based, herbaceous perennial - evergreen here. See candytuft, common name.

Ok so your telling me I was right to begin with?? It is irebis?? I seriously have that last picture still named irebis aka candytuft!!

Your photo is of i-b-e-r-i-s. Iberis. Frequently used edging and rock wall plant here.

Sure looks pretty to me!

I sowed lots of alyssum and i just hope mine seeded itself.

I may have to look into that plant. It would be a nice edging plant especially if it comes back!

Karen

Karen, sheared back hard after flowering (Spring) and it stays a little tidier, more compact. Looks a little silly briefly and fills right back in, sometimes even blooming lightly again in my zone, but not showily like the first full bloom.

Hmmm is it just me, or the last photo looks much more like an alyssum rather than iberis? Especially with the formation of the tiny flower?

I think it might be hard to make an id from the plant photo shown in flower, but the small flowers could be growing conditions/culture too -

The woody stems and root system of the plant in it's current state look definitely iberis-like and not at all like an annual alyssum plant remains in winter to me.

Yeah, the photo looks like sweet Alyssum, Lobularia maritima, but then I don't know what Candytuft looks like.

And now I'm second guessing myself too, since I haven't grown much alyssum to have left any in a pot all winter, rarely grow annuals in my beds - maybe woodier than I would have thought? This online winter photo says it's alyssum in winter

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:358686}}

I've grown both alyssum and iberis. Never had alyssum survived the winter either. Maybe because I'm zone 6? What I meant by the formation of tiny flower is the way the flowers arranged. Iberis has neater arrangement, like side by side in a circle, like a pattern. I hope that makes sense lol!

I sure thought I made a post earlier, oh well!!

This little plant smells wonderful, obviously you can see it is not an evergreen. I am in 6b and I have had this plant come back this will be its 3rd or 4th year. I thought it was coming back from the root then we identified it as alyssum and I know that is an annual. Well so I truly thought I was crazy and it had just been reseeding itself. So when I found this today I was like hey maybe I am not so crazy.

This is one of my first bloomers in mid to late spring and it blooms till a DEEP freeze.

It is usually a little neater but one thing about renting they take care of the yard work well I chase them around my yard, LOL. They were tired of the other renters not mowing, so ones like me just deal with it. The workers do not care about my flowers as a matter of fact they hate my flowers, LOL. They sometimes mow them and I go yelling, so now they just blow them around and this little guy had been mistreated by those mean oh yard men. So it doesn't look great but it smelled great when I took this picture.

Isn't candytuft evergreen?

Karen

Also I truly believe it is alyssum, irebis tends to be a thicker more round foliage and a deep green. This is more of long pin like foliage and the flowers bloom and fade on the same limb (i guess that would be an appropriate word) kinda like irebis but not the same. The flowers are more of cluster like with irebis. I have never grown it but I do remember seeing it at a store.

Terrene I believe you nailed it on the money!! I did more research and it does say that it is considered an annual that may be a short lived perennial. Well even at 3 years that is pretty dog gone good if you ask me. Plus how I came across this plant was a wildflower mix that I direct sowed. It was an old pack that I did not have faith in so I just tossed it in this flower bed with about 5 more packs of wildflower seeds that were older. It was either a ferry morse or american seed company.

Iberis isn't necessarily evergreen when exposed to colder winters, it is evergreen here. And does self sow.

Carolyn if it blooms Spring til Fall, it's not iberis....that one only blooms fully once a year, sporadic rebloom after that. I've never noticed any scent with mine either, not that it's in a place my nose would go, top edge of steep cement stairs leading to the front sidewalk. I think that photo in snow was changing my tune too, but the bloom period is definitive.

Karen I will try to save some seeds for you this year. It is a great little plant that I love!! If I have to hand pollinate them I will cause they do not like to produce seed pods at all. It is not an aggressive little guy and the root you see in the picture is the entire root for half of that clump in that last picture. I believe there are 2 plants side by side. I didn't even use a shovel to pull it!!

Thank you All for the help!!

Carolyn, you live in a pretty mild zone, and it's possible that the Alyssum is growing in a warmer micro-climate. The concrete pathway probably holds a lot of heat, especially if it has a lot of sun exposure, and protects the roots from extreme temps. It would be a similar effect with the house foundation or a stone wall.

I planted some Gladiolus right against the house foundation years ago, and even though I never bother digging them up, 2 or 3 will still emerge and bloom every year. Also my Daffodils that are about a foot away from the house foundation are always the first to bloom every year.

You make a valid point. I would say that bed gets sun till about 10:00 am and that walk is maybe inches away from the root system. Parts of the walk gets sun to maybe 11:30 am at the extreme latest, on the opposite side of the walk to where the plant is.

I seriously never thought about the brick or concrete providing extra warmth to protect the roots. That makes sense though cause I also have some gladiolus bulbs that are about a foot away from the brick and I am like you I never dig them up and sometimes they come up and sometimes they don't. Last year they came up but never bloomed.

It looks more like alyssum to me.

Carolyn, how cold did it get there this winter? You're not all that far south of me. I've been growing it for 25 years in zone 6, and even in the mildest of winters, never had it survive. Seems to me the whole eastern half of the country was frigid. Annual alyssum does take frost, but not winter's deep freezes. And I'd be surprised if you had that much constant sun all winter for the concrete to hold enough heat.

I don't see new roots on your photo but I'll take your word for it. But those roots just don't look big enough either, for a plant that's 3 or 4 years old, even a little plant like alyssum. I have snapdragons that are 3 or 4 years old but they have a big root system. The perennial nicotiana that I have has roots that go deeper than a foot and are an inch in diameter. What does a scratch test show?

Karen

No need to do a scratch test if you have a root exposed. If a root is white it is ALIVE, lol. If it is brown then you got problems if it is black just toss that in the garbage if you can't remove all of the black by cutting it out. At least that is my rule of thumb.

As for how cold it has gotten here this season to be honest I started paying close attention only after I had germination in my containers. Well since I had the germination in my containers we have had 6 inches of snow and we have dropped to 9F I know for sure. That same day I pulled the weather channel up and it said current was 3F. So I would at least say it got to single digits several nights just here this month.

As for the root system there is another few plants that have a very small root system. If I am not mistaken some of my coreopsis falls in that list, boy you pull that thing the wrong way and it is uprooted. lol

The dark on the roots in the picture is just dirt.

I thought about that after I made the comment about black or brown roots, lol. I just wanted to clarify!!

Karen that new sprout of roots actually isn't in that picture, I was so excited when I found this mainly cause it confirmed I wasn't crazy that I didn't even think to show the shot of green with the white root sticking out of this main root. LOL dingy me flipped it on the opposite side. I am going to be busy the rest of the week, but if I get some time to do any gardening I will dig that little guy up this weekend again and I will take another shot for you.

Terrene, you probably know the technical name for what I will call hair like follicles coming off that main root.

Well whatever that technical name is that is your indicator for anyone else reading this. Not that big stem, but the follicles, if those are white then it is alive.

I have purchased plants at big box stores for like a dime or a nickel cause there was no or little foliage. I knew they were alive cause I am one of those shoppers that actually pop the entire plant out of the pot in the store and look at the roots. If those hair like follicles are white I don't care what the foliage looks like!!

I don't think countrycarolyn's plant is Iberis sempervirens (Perennial candytuft). That has asymmetrical petals on the outer florets and is a bushier looking plant than the one in the photograph. I believe she is right and that what she has is indeed a Lobularia maritima (Alyssum) which has overwintered. It appears to have symmetrical flowers with equal sized petals.

In temperate climates Lobularia maritima is a short lived perennial and can overwinter, although it is customarily grown as an annual. The link might be helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lobularia maritima

Thanks for that information, flora. I never knew that alyssum could be perennial in warm zones.

Carolyn, NO! Don't dig up your plant. I told you I'd take your word for it. I didn't mean to suggest that I doubted it, I just wondered if we could all be identifying it (incorrectly) as alyssum.

Karen