Growing Candytuft: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026
Candytuft is a short, dense annual grown for a concentrated burst of white or pink flowers in late spring.
The annual one, not the evergreen one
Two plants share this name. Iberis sempervirens is an evergreen perennial that spills over walls. Iberis umbellata, the one covered here and the one sold on seed racks, is a true annual raised fresh each year. They are not interchangeable, and the perennial will not come from an annual’s seed packet.
Weeks, not months
NC State Extension puts the bloom in May and June. That is the whole performance. Sowing in succession every couple of weeks through spring extends it, and pairing it with something that peaks in July keeps the square working after it stops.
It reaches 12 to 18 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches across, in full sun or partial shade, and takes poor soil without complaint.
Sow it early and leave it alone
Seed goes in about two weeks before the last frost, an eighth of an inch deep. It resents transplanting, which is why our calendar direct sows it rather than starting it indoors.
Four plants to the square foot gives the dense block that this plant needs to look like anything; a scattered few read as weeds.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Iberis umbellata.
Companion planting guide for Candytuft · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Candytuft doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Candytuft plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 4 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-1.5 ft.
Where to buy candytuft seeds
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing candytuft" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Candytuft: An annual that flowers hard for a few weeks in late spring and then quietly stops, and how it differs from the evergreen perennial with the same name.
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