Yellow alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) is a low-growing hardy evergreen perennial for the home garden.    It blooms for 4-6 weeks in the spring with vibrant yellow flowers and grey-green foliage.    It is best planted in a sunny and drier location and works very well with rock gardens and borders.   Over time the plants spread to become mat-like, but they are easy to manage.   

When the flowers are in bloom, they give off a sweet scent especially if they are planted in masses.    Other names for the plant are basket-of-gold, golden alyssum, golden tuft, and gold dust.

After flowering seeds start to develop on stems.  These are fairly easy to remove, which encourages some second growth and prevents reseeding for new plants where they are not wanted.   We have left them to spread on a wild sloped area over decades and they have multiplied, but not excessively.

Yellow alyssum is one of our most reliable and showy ground covers in the garden, especially in spring.   A good combination is to plant them near Cerastium (which has white flowers in late spring) and candytuft (with white flowers in spring).   We have seen a number of butterflies on our alyssum in the flowering season.   A recommended plant for home gardens….