BABY'S BREATH
By Liz Anderson
LGCF 2017 Convention Third Place Honors
As the sun blushes pink on a crisp fall morning, a chill wraps around our tiny raised creole cottage. The warmth of my husband’s body and the softness of the goose down coverlet tempt me to snuggle deeper into sleep, but the mewing calls of the swaddled baby in the bassinet are instinctually stronger, and so I rise in the darkness and the promise of a new day.
The dappled light passes through the sheers covering fogged window panes. The antique chair that rocked generations of infants creaks with the weight of mother and child, breaking the sounds of silence. It’s just us two, sharing a moment special in its intimacy; flannel gown buttons unfastened, tiny hands seeking skin-to-skin comfort. The soft lips against my breast and hungry rooting as my baby seeks nourishment holds comfort for us both. Finding contentment in my arms, my little one smiles with the crinkle of baby’s crow’s feet; and carried on his whispered sigh is the never-forgotten fragrance of mother’s milk, honey’s sweetness, innocence, and purity. Baby’s breath, a scent forever remembered, and physically in the presence of countless corsages, centerpieces and bouquets.
Baby’s breath, also called bride’s veil, is a bedding herb most commonly used as a cutting plant for corsages and flower arrangements. Both annual and perennial varieties form beautiful airy clouds of tiny white or soft-pink flowers from April through August. Native to Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, baby’s breath is most commonly used in the garden as both border and bedding plants.
The perennial herb is considered by many horticulturalists an invasive weed and not recommended as a yard plant. The annual variety, whose botanical name is gypsophila muralis, reaches a height of 12-18 inches and is quite bushy. While baby’s breath should be grown in full sun in zones 4-9, it can get by on as little as 4 hours of direct light. Baby’s breath is best planted by seed in early spring and is drought tolerant. It does not transplant well from pot, as this method often leads to root rot. The perfect medium for health growth includes well-drained, calcium rich, alkaline, sandy soil. Staking helps support the plant throughout its flowering cycle. Baby’s breath is an attractant for bees and is deer and rabbit resistant.
Beginning in the 1990’s, baby’s breath was used extensively in corsages and flower arrangements. Once the arrangement has served its usefulness, the baby’s breath is often retained and used in other dry arrangements throughout a home.
Recently there has been a resurgence in interest in the Victorian-initiated language of flowers, sometimes called floriography. Eras ago, florists used this system to convey feelings and emotions from a giver of an arrangement to a receiver. Some meanings for baby’s breath include
While the sun sets burnt orange and reminiscent of Indian summers past, children’s laughter, and garden play, I now rock in a softly padded glider, covered in a fleece blanket and wrapped in the memories of days gone by. The heirloom rocker, passed down from one generation of young mothers to the next, now sits in my own daughter’s home, awaiting the arrival of her firstborn, now just a fleeting whimsy of soft promises and butterfly kisses to come.
On the dining room table covered in its own recollections of thousands of shared celebrations, meals, and blessings is my tender husband’s gift to me, a bouquet of white roses surrounded by a cloud of tiny snowflake blossoms. The language of flowers shared between us mature lovers today years after young parenthood is love, commitment, family and memories of our infants’ nectar-sweet smiles and the fragrance of innocence and dreams delivered on baby’s breath.
CITATIONS
“Baby Breath Flower: Its Meaning & Symbolism”. Flower Meaning. http://www.flowermeaning.com/baby-breath-flower/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath”. The National Gardening Association Learning Library. http://garden.org/learn/articles/view/3361/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila paniculata)”. The National Garden Association Plants Database. http://garden.org/plants/view/86987/Babys-Breath-Gypsophila-paniculata/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
Meghan Shinn. “Growing Baby’s Breath”. Horticulture, the Art& Science of Smart Gardening. April 12, 2012. http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/growing-babys-breath. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath”. Aggie Horticulture. http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/19/19.1.html. Accessed 10/16/2016.
The dappled light passes through the sheers covering fogged window panes. The antique chair that rocked generations of infants creaks with the weight of mother and child, breaking the sounds of silence. It’s just us two, sharing a moment special in its intimacy; flannel gown buttons unfastened, tiny hands seeking skin-to-skin comfort. The soft lips against my breast and hungry rooting as my baby seeks nourishment holds comfort for us both. Finding contentment in my arms, my little one smiles with the crinkle of baby’s crow’s feet; and carried on his whispered sigh is the never-forgotten fragrance of mother’s milk, honey’s sweetness, innocence, and purity. Baby’s breath, a scent forever remembered, and physically in the presence of countless corsages, centerpieces and bouquets.
Baby’s breath, also called bride’s veil, is a bedding herb most commonly used as a cutting plant for corsages and flower arrangements. Both annual and perennial varieties form beautiful airy clouds of tiny white or soft-pink flowers from April through August. Native to Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, baby’s breath is most commonly used in the garden as both border and bedding plants.
The perennial herb is considered by many horticulturalists an invasive weed and not recommended as a yard plant. The annual variety, whose botanical name is gypsophila muralis, reaches a height of 12-18 inches and is quite bushy. While baby’s breath should be grown in full sun in zones 4-9, it can get by on as little as 4 hours of direct light. Baby’s breath is best planted by seed in early spring and is drought tolerant. It does not transplant well from pot, as this method often leads to root rot. The perfect medium for health growth includes well-drained, calcium rich, alkaline, sandy soil. Staking helps support the plant throughout its flowering cycle. Baby’s breath is an attractant for bees and is deer and rabbit resistant.
Beginning in the 1990’s, baby’s breath was used extensively in corsages and flower arrangements. Once the arrangement has served its usefulness, the baby’s breath is often retained and used in other dry arrangements throughout a home.
Recently there has been a resurgence in interest in the Victorian-initiated language of flowers, sometimes called floriography. Eras ago, florists used this system to convey feelings and emotions from a giver of an arrangement to a receiver. Some meanings for baby’s breath include
- eternal and undying love, including love of friend, family member, or romantic partner
- freedom from corruption and negative ideas, purity of thought
- in Christian theology, the power of the Holy Spirit
- purity, innocence, and virtue
- reconnecting severed relationships with family, friends and lovers
While the sun sets burnt orange and reminiscent of Indian summers past, children’s laughter, and garden play, I now rock in a softly padded glider, covered in a fleece blanket and wrapped in the memories of days gone by. The heirloom rocker, passed down from one generation of young mothers to the next, now sits in my own daughter’s home, awaiting the arrival of her firstborn, now just a fleeting whimsy of soft promises and butterfly kisses to come.
On the dining room table covered in its own recollections of thousands of shared celebrations, meals, and blessings is my tender husband’s gift to me, a bouquet of white roses surrounded by a cloud of tiny snowflake blossoms. The language of flowers shared between us mature lovers today years after young parenthood is love, commitment, family and memories of our infants’ nectar-sweet smiles and the fragrance of innocence and dreams delivered on baby’s breath.
CITATIONS
“Baby Breath Flower: Its Meaning & Symbolism”. Flower Meaning. http://www.flowermeaning.com/baby-breath-flower/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath”. The National Gardening Association Learning Library. http://garden.org/learn/articles/view/3361/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila paniculata)”. The National Garden Association Plants Database. http://garden.org/plants/view/86987/Babys-Breath-Gypsophila-paniculata/. Accessed 10/16/2016.
Meghan Shinn. “Growing Baby’s Breath”. Horticulture, the Art& Science of Smart Gardening. April 12, 2012. http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/growing-babys-breath. Accessed 10/16/2016.
“Baby’s Breath”. Aggie Horticulture. http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/19/19.1.html. Accessed 10/16/2016.