Most gardeners are familiar with the wonderful annual "Sweet Alyssum" that is used in the spring as a garden edging or container plant. It is covered with either tiny white, pink, lilac or purple flowers and is actually Lobularia maritima; not a member of the Alyssum genus at all. Oh, the confusion that common names cause!
Basket of Gold Alyssum is not a member of the Alyssum genus either, at least not any more (confusion can also be caused by taxonomists who continually move plants from one genus to another); it is now called Aurinia saxatilis. But no matter what we call this plant, it is definitely worth consideration for your perennial garden.
Basket of Gold is a beautiful, low growing perennial covered with a profusion of tiny, intense yellow flowers in mid to late spring. The foliage is gray-green and rapidly spreads into clumps, growing from 8 to 12 inches tall. The plant prefers full sun with very well drained soil, and should be cut back after flowering. Basket of Gold is most appealing when it is allowed to tumble over the edge of a wall or when grown in a rock garden and left to meander among the stones. But it is pretty enough to use almost anywhere.
Some cultivars worth consideration include:
'Citrina'- has golden lemon flowers and grows to 12-15 inches tall.
'Gold Ball'- flowers earlier than the species and forms an 8 inch tall globular form.
'Sunny Border Apricot'- has apricot colored flowers.
