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Annual and Perennial Baby’s breath

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Baby’s Breath – is it an annual or a perennial? Well the answer is that it’s both. There are annual varieties as well as perennials varieties.

If you live in zone 6 or lower and you’d like to grow baby’s breath in a container it’s probably best to grow the annual variety.

The perennial variety of Baby’s breath must have perfect drainage. It’s has deep brittle roots which will make it difficult to grow in anything but a tub if you weren’t planning on growing it in a garden bed. The perennial variety can be counted on to bloom once during the summer, but if it’s a good season it might rebloom once.

Annual baby’s breath on the other hand will bloom over a much longer season.

I must admit that I haven’t had much luck growing either annual or perennial baby’s breath. My other plants always seem to crowd it out. I think I’ll try to look for the perfect spot to grow perhaps a combination of annual and perennial baby’s breath. That way, if I’m finally successful, I’ll have lots of baby’s breath blooms to use in my flower vases. Well if I ever cut fresh flowers, but that’s another story …






Think about Perennial Geraniums

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I think that most gardeners end up buying annual geraniums for their flower pots, baskets and window box planters each year, or it’s similar counter part the Pelargonium.

However, have you ever thought about planting some of the lovely perennial geraniums? They make great garden plants, many of which bloom several times each season. There is a wide variety of perennial geraniums to choose from.

Johnson’s Blue is one of the most popular of the perennial geraniums and I must admit that I grow this geranium myself. I love it’s delicate iridescent blue flowers. It’s just gorgeous when photographed in the right light setting too.

Other perennial geraniums that you might want to try include “Claridge Druce”, “Wargrave Pink”, “Ballerina”, “Biokovo” and Splish Splash. These varieties are often sold as small plants in nurseries, however you might be able to purchase seeds for these geraniums from Thompson and Morgan.

I see green growth in my garden

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The weather really warmed up here over the last few days. All the snow and ice that we got a week and a half ago is pretty much gone!

The moisture must have done the grass and the garden beds some good. The grass doesn’t have that worn out dormant look. It actually looks pretty green. I guess that’s because we only had really cold weather here this winter for a month and a half rather than three or four months like we normally do.

From my kitchen window I can see small patches of green poking up in the garden beds. One of the sedum has new growth starting, and there’s definitely some chives coming up. Near the chives I see another patch of green but I can’t remember what I’ve got planted there. I’m wondering if it’s some bulbs coming up?

I’ll have to take a walk outside tomorrow and see what else is happening in the garden.

It’s a shame that these plants are coming up and that the snow has melted. You see, we are expecting at least one more round of fairly cold weather in the next few days. I hope it doesn’t damage the foolish plants that decided to begin to grow so early.

Have any of you noticed signs of your plants beginning to grow again in your gardens?

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