Baby’s breath
About This Species
Baby’s breath is an escaped ornamental plant that is very invasive in BC. When Baby’s breath invades grazing land, it reduces native grasses and forage for grazing animals and wildlife. When it develops seeds and matures, the plant breaks off at the ground and rolls long distances across the landscape with the ability to spread the over 10,000 seeds per plant! Baby’s breath has been used in floral arrangements. If you have a bouquet including Baby’s breath, make sure not to dispose of it in the compost.
How to Identify
Baby’s breath is a slender, twiggy, bushy perennial plant. When in bloom, Baby’s breath has lots of tiny, star-shaped white to light-pink flowers.
Leaves are opposite each other, silvery-green and narrow. They measure approximately 2.5-5.0 cm long and can be smooth or hairy. When Baby’s breath is in flower, the leaves are often not noticeable.
Baby’s breath grows 0.4 to 1.2 m tall in a mound shape.
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If you need advice about invasive species on your property or you are concerned about reported invasives in your local area, contact your local government or regional invasive species organization.
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A few non-invasive alternatives to plant instead of Baby’s breath include:
- Filigran russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
- German statice (Goniolimon tataricum)
- Hybrid yarrow (Achillea millefolium hybrids)
- Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
- Sea lavender (Limonium latifolium)
