Creeping baby's breath
Gypsophila repens ·
A low, trailing mat of narrow, grey-green leaves covered in a haze of tiny white or pink flowers in early summer.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around creeping baby's breath
The planner designed this bed around creeping baby's breath when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why creeping baby's breath stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Creeping baby's breath × 22, white
- 2 Sea thrift × 6, pink
- 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Sunset hyssop × 3, orange
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 2, purple
- 8 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are globes, spires and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for sea thrift. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 22 plants in 6 groups (5, 5, 3, 3, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
- Beside sea thrift. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From early June to mid July.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 54 to 46, left to right. Creeping baby's breath is the plant there is most of: 22 of the 52.
The planner's own design check: 16 Excellent, 1 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where creeping baby's breath goes in a border
At 6 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The same airy effect as tall baby's breath at ankle height, and without its invasive habits. It softens the front edge of dry plantings and likes lime.
- Trailing over walls and rocks
- Edging dry, sunny beds
- Rock gardens
What to plant with creeping baby's breath
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch': in flower together for three weeks, from early June; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sea thrift: in flower together for two weeks, from early June; happy in the same dry soil.
- Creeping thyme: in flower together for six weeks, from early June; low enough (3 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about creeping baby's breath
Does creeping baby's breath need sun or shade?
Creeping baby's breath grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does creeping baby's breath grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does creeping baby's breath flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid June to late July |
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Late May to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should creeping baby's breath be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many creeping baby's breath plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 22 in six groups.
Is there a native plant like creeping baby's breath?
Creeping baby's breath is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Three-toothed cinquefoil: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; keeps its leaves in winter.
- Woolly yarrow: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; yellow, not white.
- Rock cress: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid April to early May.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after creeping baby's breath?
Creeping baby's breath is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium': from mid July to late August, 18 in tall.
What does creeping baby's breath look like in winter?
Creeping baby's breath holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Gypsophila
- Baby's breath Gypsophila paniculata
- Baby's breath 'Rosy Veil' Gypsophila 'Rosenschleier'
In these guides
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Plants for a white garden
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July; airy sprays; white, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; grey-green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.