Yarrow can come in a bright yellow variety, but it can also be red or pink.
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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 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
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When the yellow part turns brown, are you suppose to cut them off?
Can we save dried branches and flower heads that have been left alone in the ground and just dried up?
When the flowers begin to fade, you can cut them off (a.k.a. “deadhead”) to encourage the plant to bloom again. Depending on your climate and the length of your growing season, the yarrow may put out more flowers this season. Alternatively, you can leave the fading flowers on the plants to give your garden some texture in the winter months. Note that yarrow will not hesitate to spread if you allow it to go to seed, however! So if you prefer to keep your yarrow contained, then you should remove the flowers once they start to fade.
It takes over choking other plants out! I have pulled it out. I have dug it up. And within week or two its back!!!! It must be related to Bermuda grass!!
You must have left some of the rizomes (sp).. That's how the multipy.
How much sun does Yarrow need? I have no more than 2 hours of sun in any part of my yard.
Yarrow really does best in full sun in a site where it’s not too windy. At minimum, it must be started in full sun. In shade, it will grow, but it becomes tall and floppy, and doesn’t bloom much. You often have to stake.
How well does yarrow do in a pot and how big should the container be?
Yarrow thrives in hot, dry conditions with low soil fertility–sometimes container conditions are a bit too rich for its liking.
Hey there, I planted my yarrow too soon indoors and would like to move it outdoors, but the last frost is end of May. Will they die? I'm concerned my soil indoors is too shallow to sustain them much longer. Thanks.
