Annuals Dictionary: Gypsophila
Pink family
Caryophyllaceae
Jip-sof’fill-a. A genus of 125 handsome, small-flowered herbs, chiefly Eurasian, known generally as baby’s-breath for the profusion of mostly small flowers.
Description
Leaves small, bluish green, opposite. Joints slightly swollen. Flowers numerous, usually in profuse branched panicles. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 5, sometimes toothed, usually with a minute claw. Stamens 10.
How to Grow
Sow seeds in fall where winters are mild, early spring elsewhere. For a steady supply of blossoms for cutting, start replacement crops every 30 days except during the hottest part of the summer. Plant in full sun. Where the summer sun is intense, give afternoon shade. Blooms best with some lime added to soil and if somewhat crowded, so do not thin too much. Prefers cool weather.
Gypsophila elegans
Annual Baby’s-Breath . Upright, forking, 10-18 in. (25-45 cm) high. Flowers small, ?-1 in. (0.6-2.5 cm) wide, long-stalked, white or pinkish, petals slightly notched. Caucasus to n. Iran. Many cultivars, including ‘Carminea’, with carmine-rose flowers; ‘Grandiflora Alba’, with larger, white flowers; ‘Purpurea’, with purple flowers; and ‘Rosea’, with rose-pink flowers. Hardy annual.