Perennial baby's breath

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Last year I bought 2 perennial baby's breath plants. I gave one to DD and I planted one. This spring her plant is huge and mine is very small. I read they do not need much water and like well drained soil. I dug mine up and put in soil that i think is less fertile and drains good, but my sprinkler hits that area. How much water is too much for one of these plants? I am hoping the better draining soil might help or if I am going to need to put a bucket over it while I water the rest of the area.

 

[Branching Out]

I received a perennial baby's breath plant from a friend, and it did fine in our garden with minimal irrigation and full baking sun-- so well in fact that it produced a LOT of seed. The following year I had a baby's breath nightmare happening, and all of the plants had to be culled. It was insane. Kind of too bad, because it looks so lovely in bouquets. Perhaps some varieties are less invasive, but I've not tried growing it again.

 

[digitS']

The USDA lists so many species that it is difficult to narrow things down but what we have growing wild locally looks to be the one shown on their map in all northern tier states and right across Canada.

We have one growing in our front yard although it looks like it would like to escape through the picket fence and across the sidewalk. I think that it is just a matter of being crowded by the peony and Sweet William. If anything, it is a smaller plant than it was 10 years ago and there has been no serious invasion of volunteers.

Yes, DW liked to include them in her bouquets although the annual is more showy. We would harvest them in a choice of 3 locations and hang bunches to dry under the carport roof. The locations were vacant ground. One was a large lot that a construction outfit had dumped piles of soil on years before. Another was near a railroad spur. Nothing special, just long neglected fallow ground.

By this experience, I am tempted to say that crowded with other perrineals and kept well-watered controls growth. Left to itself, it can spread to acres .

Steve