I went to the garden center before I got your note, Kay, but happened to
pick up some alyssum because I thought they looked nice so glad to see they
were a recommendation! Next year I'll do them from seed.

As the sweet alyssum grows, you'll see the flowers stay on the tips of the
branches, but you'll see roundish "leaves" just below. Those aren't leaves,
they're fruits. In the fall, you can cut or pull the plants and spread
them on newspapers to dry for a few days, then crunch them up and
give them a good winnowing, and you've got seed for next year. Or you can
do the same in July or August, when they start looking a bit ratty... just
scissor them back a bit (takes about 2 weeks for them to start blooming
again), and do the drying/crunching/winnowing trick. Near a house
wall, you may find it blooming well into December some years.

I like the tall sweet alyssum for a number of uses, and it's harder
to find seed for than the more popular creeping sort, so I save my own
seed each year. It's easy to germinate, and grows quickly.

I also use both types in front of some rock walls we have... the deer
knock stones over now and then, so I tend to stay well back from them
with the mower, to avoid nasty surprises. The alyssum looks good, and
if I give it a little trim with the mower blades, no harm done. Works
around tree roots, too, or over clematis roots (which like shaded soil
but full sun on the top.)

Do you like dahlias? Some of the seed-raised dahlias like 'Redskin' (18",
maroonish foliage) or Figaro (12", green foliage) also do well in summer
over bulbs, and can complement daylilies nicely. For a faster start the
following year, you can save the tubers from the dahlias.
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