Common name: Yarrow
Family: Asteraceae, Aster
Height x width:6-36" x 2-5'
Growth rate: moderate to fast
Foliage:green or gray-green, deeply divided like ferns, often with heavy spicy odor
Flowers: flat-topped corymbs, outer flowers female, inner flowers male and female, various colors
Hardiness: zones 3-5 to 8-9
Soil: most if well-drained
Light: sun
Pests and problems: beetles, mites
Landscape habit, uses: borders, containers, massing
Other interest: good for cut or dried flowers, cut when pollen is visible for best vase life; named after Achilles who supposedly used millefolium species for soldiers' wounds
Other culture: some species may be invasive (roots) in some situations except for clump-formers; in zones 7 and warmer plants may get spindly and need staking
Propagation: seeds, division, cuttings
Species:
filipendulina(phil-i-pen-du-lee' nah)--Fern-leaf Yarrow, zones 3-8, 3-5' x 3', flat yellow flowers 3-4" across in summer, foliage is generally green and deeply cut as in ferns, forms clumps
grandifolia(gran-di-fol' ee-ah)--White Yarrow, zones 5-8, 2-4' x 2', flat white flowers 3-4" across in summer, gray-green and lacey 9" leaves, clump-forming
millefolium(mill-i-fol' ee-um)--Common Yarrow, zones 3-9, 1-2' x 5', flat flowers white to cerise red, dark green deeply cut foliage, spreads 1-2' per year, used in medieval Europe as a toothache remedy and instead of hops in ale, variable from seed, hybrids with taygetea form Galaxy series
ptarmica(tar-mi-ka')--Sneezewort, zones 2-9, 1-2' x 1', white flowers in early summer, dark green linear non-dissected leaves, aggressive in good soils, leaves and roots made into a powder in Victorian England and used as substitute for snuff (hence the common name)
tomentosa(toe-men-toe' sah)--Wooly Yarrow, zones 3-7, 6-12" x
18", yellow flowers in early summer, hairy or "wooly" foliage deeply cut
and light green, doesn't tolerate heat and humidity
Cultivars:
| Cultivars, other taxa | species | flowers | other | |
| 'Altgold' | filipendulina | deep yellow | 2' tall | |
| 'Apfelblute' (syn.) | Galaxy hybrid | peach, lilac-pink | 2-3' tall | |
| 'Appleblossom':'Apfelblute' | ||||
| 'Cerise Queen' | millefolium | cerise red | 1-2' tall | |
| 'Cloth of Gold' | filipendulina | pure yellow | 3-4' tall | |
| 'Coronation Gold' | -- | yellow | gray-green foliage, 3' tall | |
| 'Flowers of Sulphur':'Schwefelblute | ||||
| 'Gold Plate' | filipendulina | deep yellow | 3-5' tall | |
| 'Great Expectations' (syn.) | Galaxy hybrid | primrose yellow | 2' tall | |
| 'Heidi' | Galaxy hybrid | pastel pink | 1-2' tall | |
| 'Hoffnung':'Great Expectations' | ||||
| 'Hope':'Great Expectations' | ||||
| 'Moonshine' | -- | lemon yellow | gray-green foliage, 1-2' | |
| 'Parker's Variety' | filipendulina | golden yellow | 3-4' tall | |
| 'Red Beauty' | millefolium | cerise red | 2' tall | |
| 'Salmon Beauty' | Galaxy hybrid | salmon | 2-3' tall | |
| 'Schwefelblute' (syn.) | -- | sulphur yellow | slowly spreads, 2' tall | |
| 'Schwellenburg' | -- | lemon yellow | silvery foliage, 1-2' tall | |
| 'Summer Pastels' | millefolium | pastels | 2' tall, from seed | |
| 'The Beacon' | Galaxy hybrid | rich red, yellow centers | 2-3' tall | |
| 'The Pearl' | ptarmica | white, double | 2' tall | |
| 'Weser River Sandstone' | millefolium | deep rose-pink | 2-3' tall | |
©Authored by Dr. Leonard Perry, Professor, University of Vermont as part of PSS123 course.
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