Baby’s-Breath
Gypsophila paniculata. CARYOPHYLLACEAE.
Planting and Growing Baby’s-Breath
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow baby’s-breath in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of baby’s-breath
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for baby’s-breath
- Season of bloom and planting time for baby’s-breath
- When, how deep, and where to plant baby’s-breath
- How to plant baby’s-breath
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of baby’s-breath
- Landscape and container uses of baby’s-breath
- Comments about baby’s-breath and its features
Growing Baby’s-Breath
Several cultivars of branching, mounding, upright, wide, rhizomatous, deciduous perennial herbs, to 3 ft. (90 cm) tall and wide. Smooth, gray green, green, graceful, lance-shaped, finely toothed leaves, to 3 in. (75 mm) long.
Common cultivars include Gypsophila paniculata ‘Bristol Fairy’ and ‘Perfecta’.
See also annual Baby’s Breath, Gypsophila elegans, a closely related annual species.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Profuse pink, white, semi-double flowers, 1/16–1/8-in. (1.5–3-mm) wide, in single or multibranched, dense clusters, in summer.
Best Climates
Hardy. Zones 4–9.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Average–low. 7.0–8.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Early spring in full sun, 24–30 in. (60–75 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist until established; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Fertilize annually in spring. Stake. Avoid transplanting. Propagate by cuttings, division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, borders, edgings, fencelines in cottage, rock, rose gardens. Good for cutting, drying, and as a filler in floral arrangements. Disease resistant. Leafhopper, slug, snail susceptible.