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Yarrow: How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Yarrow Plants | The Old Farmer's Almanac

Yarrow

Yarrow can come in a bright yellow variety, but it can also be red or pink.

Photo Credit
Crestock
Botanical Name
Achillea spp.
Plant Type
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Varies
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
Pink
Red
White
Yellow
Hardiness Zone
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies
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How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Yarrow Plants

The Editors
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Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a native North American plant that’s popular with pollinators and practically care-free, making it perfect for borders, ground covers, and open meadows. Here’s how to grow yarrow in your garden!

About Yarrow

Sold as a hardy and versatile perennial, yarrow has showy flower heads composed of many tiny, tightly-packed flowers rising above clusters of ferny foliage. The flowers may be yellow, red, pink, or any shade in between.

Yarrow is pest-resistant, drought-resistant, attracts butterflies, and is excellent for cutting and drying.

The plant is also an aromatic herb which has many healing properties!

Note: Despite yarrow’s many beneficial characteristics, it can also be an invasive grower that readily pushes out its neighbors. Plant responsibly! 

Yarrow with pink flowers

Planting

When to Plant Yarrow

  • Plant in the spring or early summer after the danger of frost has passed. See local frost dates.
  • If you plant yarrow from tip cuttings, plant them in spring or early summer.

Choosing a Preparing a Planting Site

  • Plant in an area that receives full sun to encourage compact growth and many flowers. In partial sun or shade, yarrow tends to grow leggy. 
  • Yarrow performs best in well-drained soil. It thrives in hot, dry conditions; it will not tolerate soil that’s constantly wet. Loamy soil is recommended, but yarrow can also be grown in clay soil as long as it does not stay saturated with water all the time.
  • Use a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil in your garden to about 12 to 15 inches deep, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.
  • If you grow yarrow in too-rich soil, the plants may require staking due to overenthusiastic growth. To keep it from growing too tall, choose a site with average to poor soil and supplement it with a bit of compost to give the plants a good start.

How to Plant Yarrow

  • Space the plants 1 to 2 feet apart.
  • They are quick to establish and spread, though some species, like Achillea millefolium, are extra-aggressive growers, so be careful when choosing your plants. Most kinds grow to be about 2 to 4 feet tall.
Growing

How to Grow Yarrow

  • Add a thin layer of compost around your plants each spring to keep them fed.
  • Yarrow is very drought tolerant, but if you receive less than 1 inch of rain a week in the summer, remember to water your plants to keep them looking their best.
  • Cut off (“deadhead”) flowers when they start to fade in mid-summer; this encourages most varieties to produce another round of flowers. 
  • Divide yarrow plants every 3 to 5 years to sustain vigorous, healthy plants. Lift the clumps in early spring or fall and remove any dead stems from the center of the clump. You can replant the divisions elsewhere in the garden or share with a friend!

Yarrow flowers.

Recommended Varieties
  • ‘Coronation Gold’, for its beautiful mustard-yellow flowers and silvery gray leaves.
  • ‘Fanal’ (or ‘The Beacon’), for its rich red flowers with yellow centers.
  • ‘Cerise Queen’, to add some bright pink color to your garden.
Wit and Wisdom
Pests/Diseases

Yarrow is generally disease-free and easy to keep, though it is susceptible to the following:

Flowers
Perennials

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Comments

Cory Lindseth (not verified)

2 weeks 2 days ago

I grew up in Montana, and the white variety grows wild there. A Native American friend told us that a poultice of chewed flowers and saliva will help ease bee and wasp stings, and we verified that on several occasions. It stops the pain and swelling in under 10 minutes.

Julie Cowee (not verified)

9 months 1 week ago

I cut the dead dry heads of Yarrow, hang them up somewhere to completely dry out, remove the seed heads, grind them into a fine powder and store them to use in case of an injury, to stop the bleeding, the powder immediately forms a clump on the open would and stops the bleeding, it can be left as an antiseptic dressing. It worked equally well on a friend who takes Warfarin and he always makes sure he has some of my powder in stock.

A ROCKWELL (not verified)

10 months 3 weeks ago

most of the native yarrow Ive seen have white compacted flowers; I've never seen Yellow Native Yarrow; I used Yarrow as a solar tea; put cold water + yarrow blossoms in a glass jar; put in sun for the day; use for tea; Yarrow Tea makes a nice hair rinse; Ive used Yarrow Tea as herbal tea; solar tea; bath water; foot soaks; and more !!!

Debra Smith (not verified)

11 months 3 weeks ago

I've read and seen many instructions that say yarrow does grow well in Clay soil.
Your article says don't grow in Clay soil.
???

a (not verified)

3 weeks 2 days ago

I worked as an intern at a place where we planted yarrow (and other native plants in the area).
The soil had never been cultivated before, as there was a lot of clay and rocks instead of just dirt.

The yarrow seems to be doing extremely well, and has grown a lot since the time I planted them in.

It should be fine, but I'm not too sure if different types of clay make any difference.

a