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A Guide to Baby’s Breath Varieties
Baby’s breath is a garden staple renowned for its delicate, cloud-like masses of tiny flowers that add an airy, romantic quality to borders and arrangements. While often overlooked as simply a filler flower, baby’s breath offers surprising diversity in form, color, and growing habit. Here’s a flower shop guide to help you discover the perfect baby’s breath varieties for your garden.
Annual Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila elegans)
Annual varieties grow quickly from seed, bloom profusely for several weeks, and are perfect for cutting gardens and succession planting.
‘Covent Garden’ is the classic annual baby’s breath, producing masses of pure white flowers on plants reaching 18-24 inches tall. It blooms heavily for 4-6 weeks and is ideal for fresh bouquets, creating that traditional airy effect in arrangements.
‘Carmine’ offers a delightful departure with rose-pink flowers that add soft color to the garden. Growing 18-20 inches tall, it provides the same delicate texture as white varieties but with romantic pastel tones.
‘Kermesina’ produces deeper rose-red flowers on compact plants about 12-18 inches tall. The vibrant color creates unexpected impact while maintaining the characteristic delicate appearance.
Perennial Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila paniculata)
Perennial varieties form substantial clumps that return year after year, creating billowing clouds of flowers throughout summer.
‘Bristol Fairy’ is the gold standard for perennial baby’s breath, producing abundant double white flowers on plants reaching 2-3 feet tall and equally wide. The flowers are larger and more substantial than annual types, creating impressive displays that last for weeks.
‘Perfecta’ offers even larger double white flowers on vigorous plants growing 3-4 feet tall. It’s exceptionally productive and creates dramatic focal points in borders or cutting gardens.
‘Festival White’ is a compact perennial reaching just 12-18 inches, making it perfect for front-of-border plantings or smaller gardens. Despite its modest size, it produces generous amounts of white blooms.
‘Festival Pink’ provides the same compact growth as Festival White but with soft pink double flowers. It’s ideal for edging paths or filling gaps in perennial borders.
Creeping Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila repens)
These low-growing varieties spread along the ground, making them perfect for rock gardens, wall plantings, and ground covers.
‘Rosea’ forms dense mats just 4-6 inches tall, covered in tiny pink flowers throughout late spring and early summer. It cascades beautifully over walls and between stepping stones.
‘Alba’ offers the same low-growing habit with pure white flowers. Growing 4-8 inches tall, it spreads to create soft carpets that contrast beautifully with stone and gravel.
‘Filou Rose’ is a more vigorous creeping type reaching 8-10 inches tall with deep pink flowers. It’s excellent for covering larger areas in rock gardens or along pathway edges.
Specialty Varieties
These distinctive baby’s breath varieties offer unique characteristics that set them apart.
‘Million Stars’ is a compact annual growing 12-15 inches tall, absolutely smothered in tiny white flowers. It branches heavily and creates incredibly dense displays, living up to its name with seemingly countless blooms.
‘Gypsy Deep Rose’ produces rich rose-pink flowers with excellent color saturation. Growing 18-24 inches tall, it maintains good color even in hot weather and works beautifully in fresh or dried arrangements.
‘Xlence’ is a breakthrough perennial variety bred for superior performance, with stronger stems, larger flowers, and better disease resistance than older varieties. Growing 2-3 feet tall, it produces masses of white blooms over an extended season.
‘Snowflake’ offers extra-large double white flowers on sturdy stems reaching 30-36 inches. The substantial blooms are particularly long-lasting in arrangements.
For Drying
While most baby’s breath dries well, certain varieties excel for dried arrangements and crafts.
‘Overtop White’ is specifically bred for drying, with strong stems and flowers that retain their shape and color beautifully. Growing 24-30 inches tall, it’s a favorite among florists.
‘New Love’ produces soft pink flowers that maintain their color when dried. The 18-24 inch stems are ideal for hanging bunches, and the dried flowers add romantic color to arrangements and wreaths.
Growing Tips
Baby’s breath thrives in full sun with excellent drainage. True to its botanical name (Gypsophila means “lime-loving”), it prefers alkaline soil and benefits from lime applications in acidic conditions. Annual varieties benefit from succession planting every 2-3 weeks for continuous blooms throughout summer. Perennial types should be cut back after flowering to encourage fresh growth and sometimes a second bloom flush.
For cut flowers, harvest when about half the flowers on a stem are open. Baby’s breath dries easily by hanging bunches upside down in a dark, well-ventilated space. Avoid overwatering, as baby’s breath is quite drought-tolerant once established and susceptible to root rot in soggy conditions.
Consider pairing baby’s breath with bold flowers like roses, dahlias, or zinnias where its delicate texture provides beautiful contrast, or plant it alone for ethereal, cloud-like drifts in the border.