The 5 most beautiful varieties of the baby's breath family are all here

BGM: As Soon as Flowers Bloom, We Fall in Love - Na Ying

- Tasha's Foreword -

Baby's breath, we can find it in almost any flower shop. It may look delicate and unremarkable, yet it is one of the world's top ten cut flowers, standing on equal footing with roses, carnations and the like.

It is a versatile filler flower, perfectly filling gaps without stealing the spotlight; it can also be tied alone into a bouquet, fluffy as clouds, drifting like mist; and it can be made into dried flowers, eternally frozen in the hourglass of time.

Baby's breath is a large family, with different varieties showing different charms. Today, our Sister Damao brings 5 of these beauties, so let's get to know them~

- The main text begins -

Baby's breath, whose English name is baby's breath, means the flowers are as soft and gentle as a baby's breath.

Garden Bride, Gypsy, Cowherb, cut-flower baby's breath, and creeping baby's breath are the 5 beauties in the baby's breath family. Over different years, I collected all 5 of these beauties, and I am sharing them with everyone here.

- Garden Bride & Gypsy -

The ones with the highest appearance rate on various flower forums are none other than Garden Bride and Gypsy. The single-petaled one is Garden Bride, and the double-petaled one is Gypsy. The overall plant shape is like the bouquet in a bride's hands, which is probably how their names came about.

Left: Garden Bride; Right: Gypsy (image from files)

Their seeds are as fine as dust, and you have to hold your breath or they will be blown away; they like sunlight, but cannot tolerate scorching sun; they branch very strongly, but to ensure a perfect ball shape, pinching the tops and removing buds are also indispensable.

When they grow into such a shape, it is time to let them bloom to their heart's content.

Gypsy

They bloom in the humid, warm April days of the south. But surviving the scorching heat of early summer is a very difficult thing, so generally people collect seeds and sow in autumn, cycling year after year.

- Cut-flower baby's breath -

Cut-flower baby's breath generally appears as the golden supporting role among fresh flowers, the finishing touch.

Cut-flower baby's breath (image from the internet)

Its leaves are bold and broad, completely different from the fine, pointed leaves of Garden Bride, and this can be seen from the very first pair of true leaves.

After being planted in the ground, it grew rapidly and vigorously, and by early summer it had already produced buds, filling my heart with expectation.

When it bloomed, the pure white petals swayed in the breeze, truly lovely. But what about the promised double petals? Shopkeeper, you lied to me!

Putting aside my resentment, I looked at it carefully. So it is single-petaled, fine. Soft and gentle, delicate and frail, moving with the wind, it has its own charm.

Cutting a bunch for flower arranging, holding a cup of clear tea, doodling casually, enjoying time slowly passing by, the troubles of the mortal world have nothing to do with me at this moment.

- Cowherb -

This cowherb was discovered in the first spring after I moved to my new home.

It grew in a small flower bed, endured a winter of -35°C and 4 months of thick heavy snow, and tenaciously emerged from the soil. Its stems grew thicker and taller, and it bloomed in August, when autumn was approaching.

This flower has the form of baby's breath, but its plant shape does not have the spirit of baby's breath. This body like steel, like that of a man, is not like a delicate baby, but rather like the legendary 100-kg child. It seems that to survive a winter colder than Harbin, one must have a strong physique.

Some people say it is an invasive plant, and when it emerged again in its second spring, I deeply understood this. It was stronger and more domineering than last year, with deep roots, occupying more than half the garden.

- Creeping baby's breath -

The last beauty is also my favorite -- creeping baby's breath. The plant is not tall, less than the height of the instep, and is a good material for ground cover planting in the garden.

It has the standard appearance of baby's breath, soft and delicate, and also has the spirit of steel-like will, cold-resistant and strong. Even in sandy gravel soil, covered by heavy snow for 4 months, once the snow melts, it can still tenaciously and proudly display its beauty.

I discovered it in a corner of a flower shop, attracted by its label (creepy baby's breath). After bringing it home, I planted it in a pot and cared for it carefully, yet it only bloomed sparsely. So after autumn, I decided to let it grow freely in the ground.

After transplanting, winter soon arrived and heavy snow covered it. It woke up in April, drank its fill of snowmelt, basked in the sun, and changed day by day, growing a full size larger than last year.

In June, buds emerged one after another.

The peak bloom was in mid-July, spreading like a carpet of flowers across the sky and earth. There is no need to pinch off buds; as long as it is given enough fertilizer, it will continuously send out branches and embrace the sunlight.

Having owned these 5 beauties, there is one less regret in life.