Yarrow can come in a bright yellow variety, but it can also be red or pink.
Also receive the Almanac Daily newsletter including gardening tips, weather, astronomical events, and more.
Planting, Growing, and Caring for Yarrow Plants
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a native North American plant that is popular with pollinators and practically carefree, making it perfect for borders, ground covers, and open meadows. Here’s how to grow yarrow flowers in your garden!
About Yarrow
Sold as a hardy and versatile perennial, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) 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 that has many healing properties! See this wonderful article, Yarrow and Its Medicinal Uses.
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 constantly wet soil. Loamy soil is recommended, but yarrow can also be grown in clay soil as long as it does not always stay saturated with water.
- 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 soil that is too rich, 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 some 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!
Catherine Boeckmann
ADVERTISEMENT
I have heard that yarrow does not like Coneflower. There is Coneflower planted about 5’ away from my yarrow plants. Will that be a problem?
I planted some pretty white yarrow in my full sun garden early last fall. This is June 26 in Indiana and I have a nice little “bush”, but no flowers. I am concerned since I’ve read that Yarrow doesn’t like too rich of soil. Last fall I dumped used potting soil from several large pots into this sun garden. The “native” soil of the garden isn’t rich on its own, but maybe the added potting soil has made it so for the yarrow? How can I “fix” the soil around the yarrow to make it LESS rich?
Hi, Kris. It sounds like you might need to test your soil’s pH. Yarrow prefers a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. You can buy soil test kits or use a DIY method. Check out our page on how to test your soil that includes how to amend it (if necessary).
When I was a child, about eight years old, I got a very bad cold which progressed into a hospital visit. Couldn't breathe and very high fever for days. We were very poor, and since we couldn't pay the hospital, they sent me home. My Grandfather brought some herbs to my mother and told her to make a tea from the dried leaves and flowers which she did. It was very, very bitter and she made me drink many, many cups of the brew. The fever broke in less than 24 hours and I was back to school in a week. My Grandfather was a naturalist. He had brought Yarrow to my mother and probably saved my life. I now grow many different colors of yarrow, but always save the White Yarrow for illness. Always plant in poor soil as it is invasive.
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.
So does plantain the narrow leaf and broad leaf
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.
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 !!!
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.
???
Debra,
This comment is from the article:
"...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..."
