Yarrow Care Must-Knows
Yarrow is extremely easy to grow and requires little maintenance to thrive. The most important thing to know is that yarrow won’t do well in wet soils, so make sure to plant them in well-drained soil. Once established, yarrow is highly drought tolerant, making it an excellent plant for low-maintenance, dry gardens. While it tolerates some shade, yarrow will do best in full sun. It will be more prone to flopping stems in any less light. Too much shade can also lead to disease problems. Powdery mildew is common in older varieties of yarrow; luckily, it’s mostly a cosmetic problem, and plants will rarely die from it. Some yarrows spread quite aggressively by underground rhizomes. These rhizomes can grow densely and create heavy mats of foliage and roots, which is helpful for weed suppression, but it can also choke out other plants you’re trying to grow in your garden. If you are hesitant about planting them because of this, look for less aggressive varieties, and place them where their spread can be more easily contained.
New Innovations
Current breeding work has been focused on improving the flaws of yarrow. The most significant change has been creating dwarf varieties of plants that won’t flop or break in the wind. Color options are also getting richer as many varieties branch out from the pastel palette. New yarrow types also boast longer bloom times and blooms that repeat all season; be sure to cut back spent flowers to help them in the long run.
More Varieties of Yarrow
Anthea yarrow
Achillea ‘Anblo’ is a hybrid yarrow that bears 3-inch-wide clusters of soft primrose-yellow blooms that fade to cream. The plant has silvery-gray foliage and is resistant to powdery mildew, making it a good choice for regions with high humidity. It grows 18-24 inches tall and wide. Zones 4-9
‘Appleblossom’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Appleblossom’ is a fast-spreading plant with pale pink blooms and grayish-green feathery leaves. Zones 3-9
‘Apricot Delight’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Apricot Delight’ bears reddish, apricot-color blooms that fade to lovely shades of peachy coral as they age. The long-blooming flowers form on compact plants. Zones 3-9
‘Cerise Queen’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’ produces pretty, magenta-pink blooms in late spring to early summer that hover over fernlike green foliage. Zones 3-9
Common yarrow
Achillea millefolium is a drought-tolerant native plant with ferny green foliage and white flower clusters in summer. It is also deer-resistant and attracts butterflies. The spreading clumps of common yarrow grow 1-3 feet tall. Another common name for the plant is bloodwort, a reference to its historical use as a topical wound dressing. Zones 3-9
Fernleaf yarrow
Achillea filipendulina offers finely cut gray-green foliage and reaches 3-5 feet tall. It bears mustard-yellow flowers in mid to late summer. Zones 3-9
‘Paprika’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Paprika’ blooms in brilliant scarlet red with a distinctive yellow eye. With age, the flowers take on a pink hue. The plant blooms all summer if deadheaded. Zones 3-9
‘Wonderful Wampee’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium Tutti Frutti ‘Wonderful Wampee’ blooms from early to late summer with light pink flower clusters that mature to apple-blossom pink. The drought- and heat-tolerant plants don’t melt down in summer’s heat. ‘Wonderful Wampee’ grows 18-24 inches tall and wide, gradually spreading to form large clumps. Zones 3-9
‘Pomegranate’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium Tutti Frutti ‘Pomegranate’ has deep red blooms that hold their color well in the garden. If deadheaded after the first flush of bloom, plants push out additional flowers until a hard freeze in fall. ‘Pomegranate’ yarrow grows 24-30 inches tall and wide. Zones 3-9
‘Pink Grapefruit’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Pink Grapefruit’ is a compact, vigorous plant with large domed flowers that open deep pink and slowly change to creamy rose. Zones 3-9
‘Strawberry Seduction’ yarrow
Achillea millefolium ‘Strawberry Seduction’ shows off velvety-red blooms with bright gold centers that fade to maize-yellow as they age. Zones 3-9
Woolly yarrow
Achillea tomentosa ‘Lemon’ bears clear yellow flowers in early summer that appear over the 6-inch-tall foliage that’s covered in soft, silvery hairs. Zones 4-8
Yarrow Companion Plants
Daylily
Daylilies are so easy to grow you’ll often find them in ditches and fields, escapees from gardens. And yet they look so delicate, producing glorious trumpet-shaped blooms in numerous colors. There are 50,000 named hybrid cultivars in various flower sizes (the minis are very popular), forms, and plant heights. Some are fragrant. The flowers are borne on leafless stems. Although each bloom lasts only a single day, better cultivars carry several buds on each scape which extends bloom time, especially if you deadhead daily. The strappy foliage may be evergreen or deciduous.
Penstemon
This North American native plant has a home in nearly every garden with flowers that hummingbirds love. Long blooming with brilliantly colored tubular flowers, penstemons have been a staple in European gardens for decades. There are many different penstemon types. The leaves can be lance-shaped or oval and sometimes purple-red, as in ‘Husker Red’. Some Western species need superior drainage to dry conditions and won’t thrive during wet weather. However, many, such as ‘Husker Red’, thrive in various conditions. Just be sure to provide excellent drainage. Mulch in areas where plants are marginally hardy.
Salvia
There are hundreds of different types of salvias, commonly called sage, but they all tend to share beautiful, tall flower spikes and attractive, often gray-green leaves. As a result, countless sages (including the herb used in cooking) are available to decorate ornamental gardens, and new selections appear annually. Sages are valued for their very long bloom season up until frost. Not all are hardy in cold climates, but they’re easy to grow as annuals. On square stems with often-aromatic leaves, sages carry dense or loose spires of tubular flowers in bright blues, violets, yellow, pinks, or red that mix well with other perennials in beds and borders. Provide full sun or very light shade in well-drained average soil.
Garden Plans for Yarrow
Walk to Front Door Garden Plan
The addition of flowers brings life to an unimaginative row of shrubs and turns the front walk into a garden path. Download this plan now!
Extra-Easy Sun-Loving Garden Plan
Fill your garden with color from easy-care favorites such as purple coneflower and yarrow. Click here to get this garden plan.
Cottage Garden Plan
Capturing the old-fashioned charm of an English cottage garden, this border planting is lush, colorful, and full of familiar favorites, such as hollyhocks, roses, daisies, and peonies. Get this garden plan!
Summer Cottage Garden Plan
Stately delphiniums are the backbone of this colorful cottage garden plan. Click here to get this garden plan.
Property Line Garden
This stylish border features a sophisticated color palette. The perennials in the design, chosen for their long season of bloom, offer flowers in violet-blue and yellow shades. Download this garden plan!
Colorful Slope Garden Plan
Transform a tough hillside into drifts of color with show stopping results. Download this garden plan!
