General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9a
Plant Height: 2 - 3 feet
Plant Spread: 2 - 3 feet
Leaves: Semi-evergreen
Fragrant
Fruit: Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: Pink
White
Flower Time: Spring
Late spring or early summer
Summer
Foliage Mound Height: 2 to 3 feet
Underground structures: Rhizome
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Provides winter interest
Erosion control
Groundcover
Medicinal Herb
Cut Flower
Dried Flower
Will Naturalize
Suitable for forage
Dynamic Accumulator: P (Phosphorus)
K (Potassium)
Fe (Iron)
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Sow in situ
Other info: This plant self seeds.
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Stolons and runners
Offsets
Other: Underground rhizomes
Pollinators: Various insects
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil

Image
Common names
  • Yarrow
  • Milfoil
  • Soldier's Woundwort
  • Sanguinary
  • Staunchweed

Photo Gallery
Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: 2010-06-23
Location: My yard in Arlington, Texas.
Date: Spring 2010
This plant is great as a bee magnet and also medicinal.
Location: Brink of the Upper Falls, Yellowstone National Park
Date: 2022-08-23
Common Yarrow covered with pollinators in late August
Location: Bea’s garden
Date: 2023-09-21
Location: Lilburn, GA
Date: 2020-04-23
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Location: Southern Pines, NC
Date: April 28, 2023
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: June 1, 2022
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99

Date: 2020-07-02
variety Rubra
Location: Jacksonville, Fl.
Date: 2014-05-18
Location:  Maligne Canyon, Jasper, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-08-05
Location: Southern Pines, NC
Date: April 28, 2023
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99
Location: Southern Pines, NC
Date: May 1, 2023
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99
Location: Sudavik, Iceland
Date: July 2016
Photo by SoCalGardenNut
Location: RHS Harlow Carr, Yorkshire, UK
Date: 2020-07-25

Date: c. 1776
paper mosaic by Mary Delany, 1778, from the British Museum's coll

Date: 2020-07-02
variety Rubra
Location: In my garden in Kalama, Wa.
Date: 2008-07-10
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2014-05-20
Location: Reading, Pennsylvania
Date: 2023-07-19
a small group at the Berks Nature Center in the native plant gard
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Date: January 10, 2012
On University of North Florida campus, on southeast side of Build
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-13
Growing wild.
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-13
Growing wild.
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-13
Growing wild.
Location: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California
Date: 2012-06-02
Location: Wauconda, Washington
Date: 2016-08-06
This is the native form found on our property in eastern Washingt
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-05-15
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2015-09-14
Location: DISCLAIMER: This is an old photo from an old phone. I don't know why, but the photos look "deep fried". sorry about that.
Location: Darwell Rolling Woods, Alberta
Date: 2015-08-05
Location: Southern Pines, NC
Date: April 28, 2023
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99
Location: My yard in Arlington, Texas.
Date: Winter 2012
The lovely ferny foliage.
Location: Varna
Date: 12.07.2018
An Yarrow ready for drying as a herb
Location: Varna
Date: 12.07.2018
An Yarrow ready for drying as a herb
Location: Varna
Date: 12.07.2018
Yarrow near the field of Varna, Bulgaria
Location: Varna
Location: My yard in Arlington, Texas.
Date: Spring 2010
Yarrow emerginh in Spring.
Location: Alpine Lake, West Virginia | May, 2023
Location: National Botanical Garden, DC, Virginia :) | May, 2022
Date: 2022-05-28
Location: Brownstown Pennsylvania
Date: 2016-06-25
Location: Indiana zone 5
Date: 2013-06-24
a field of yarrow
Location: Johnston Canyon, Banff, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-08-02
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-04-24
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-10
Growing wild.
Location: In my garden in Kalama, Wa.
Date: 2011-08-02
With Nigella
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-13
Growing wild.
Location: Frederick MD
Date: 2007-04-21
spring sprouts (not a weed!)
Location: Jasper, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-08-04
Location: Fairfax, Virginia (Outdoors)
Location: central Illinois
Date: 6-13-15
Location: Benicia, CA
Date: 2014-07-30
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2015-03-09

Date: 2003-05-15
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-05-15
Location: Jacksonville, Fl.
Date: 2014-05-18
Location: My garden in Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-11-20
Location: Kentucky
Date: 2018-06-17
Location: Jasper, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-08-05
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: May 31, 2022
Yarrow #198. RAB page 1135, 179-79-1. AG page 289, 55-67-1,   "Vi
Photo by tarev
Location: Lake Louise, Banff, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-07-31
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: June 1, 2022
Yarrow #198; RAB p. 1135, 179-79-1. AG p. 289, 55-67-1; LHB p. 99
Location: Twisp
Date: June
Out in the pasture
Location: Hampton, VA | June, 2022
Date: 2022-06-11
Location: Kill Devil Hills, NC | June, 2022
Date: 2022-06-11
Location: Kalama, Wa
Date: 2011-07-24
  • Uploaded by Joy

Date: 2011-07-22
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date: 2008-07-25
petals fallen off, seed pods beginning to form
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-10
Growing wild.
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-10
Growing wild.
Location: Tuttle Marsh Wildlife Area, Oscoda, MI
Date: 2014-07-10
Growing wild.
Location: Nature Reserve Gent, Belgium
Date: 2011-09-22
Location: Fairfax, VA | June, 2022
growing wild
Location: Mercer Botanical Garden  Houston, Tx
Date: 2014-05-19
Location: Wenatchee National Forest
photo credit: Walter Siegmund
Location: Wenatchee National Forest
photo credit: Walter Siegmund
Location: In my garden in Kalama, Wa.
Date: 2006-06-24
  • Uploaded by Joy

Courtesy Gardens in the Wood of Grassy Creek
  • Uploaded by vic
Location: Albion Basin, Alta, Utah, United States
Date: 2020-08-12
Location: Kalama, Wa
Date: 2009-07-26
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Moraine Lake, Canada | August, 2022
Date: 2022-08-04
Location: Silver Spring, MD
Date: 2014-06-13
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Comments:
  • Posted by Mindy03 (Delta KY) on Apr 22, 2012 1:20 PM concerning plant:
    Honey bees get nectar from this plant.
  • Posted by mellielong (Lutz, Florida - Zone 9b) on Apr 17, 2015 9:42 PM concerning plant:
    The book, "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs William Starr Dana gives us many uses of this plant from all over Europe. She gives the common names of "Common Yarrow" and "Milfoil". As you can probably tell from the genus name, tradition claims that it was used by Achilles to cure the wounds of his soldiers. As of the book's publishing in 1922, the author says the plant still formed one of the ingredients of an ointment valued by the Scotch Highlanders. Early English botanists called the plant "nose-bleed" because if you put the leaves in your nose it would cause it to bleed. She quotes another writer, Gerarde, as saying men would chew the leaves (especially green) to cure a toothache. The pungent leaves also earned it the name "Old Man's Pepper". In Sweden, its name means "field hop" and refers to its use in manufacturing beer. Linnaeus considered the beer thus brewed to be more intoxicating than beer brewed with hops. The old women of the Orkney Islands believed "milfoil tea" had the power to dispel melancholy. In Switzerland, a good vinegar was said to be made from the alpine species.
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Nov 27, 2013 11:38 AM concerning plant:
    Native in the Pacific Northwest, found along roadsides and in meadows. The native form is a rather dullish white.
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Jan 28, 2012 10:02 AM concerning plant:
    This is a low-growing perennial with beautiful fern-like foliage. Flat-topped clusters of flowers rise 6 inches to 2&1/2 feet above the foliage sporadically from late May to frost. These flowers are excellent cut, either fresh or dry. Because of its graceful and nearly evergreen foliage, Yarrow makes a good texture plant for the front of the perennial garden, and it is a staple in meadows. It requires full sun and tolerates drought well. Given fertile soil, Yarrow will spread rapidly. Keep it in check by annually spading out the wanderers.
  • Posted by ZGadev (Varna,Bulgaria) on Jul 12, 2018 12:08 PM concerning plant:
    Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) or in Bulgarian Бял Равнец is one of the most used herbs in our bulgarian herbal medicine.
    The herb can be used for: menstruation problems, leucorrhea, ulcer and gastritis.
    It's a common plant here in Bulgaria, it can be found almost everywhere.
  • Posted by Catmint20906 (PNW WA half hour south of Olympia - Zone 8a) on Aug 8, 2014 2:23 PM concerning plant:
    Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a larval host plant for the Painted Lady butterfly. It also has special value to native bees, and supports conservation biological control by attracting beneficial insects to the garden, including lacewings, hoverflies, parasitic mini-wasps, and ladybugs. These beneficial insects feed on a variety of common garden pests.
  • Posted by Sharon (Calvert City, KY - Zone 7a) on Dec 3, 2011 1:44 AM concerning plant:
    Since at least the time of the ancients, yarrow has been used to treat cuts, wounds, burns and bruises. It is one of a handful of plants called allheal in the English herbal tradition. It was considered the 'life medicine' by the Navajos.

    An infusion of the leaves and flower tops is drunk to reduce fever and as a tonic to stimulate appetite. A poultice made from the whole plant or a powder made up of the dried tops is applied to cuts and wounds. It seems to be accepted by scientific research as acceptable in these uses, particularly as an astringent.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Jul 21, 2023 9:28 AM concerning plant:
    This species is actually native in both Eurasia and North America according to the USDA, Wikipedia, and the US Forest Service. In North America there are genotypes both native and those brought over from Europe in colonial times. Some native nurseries sell some and many don't. I don't know how they tell the genotypes apart. This White or Common Yarrow is a common wild plant in both Eurasia and North America. It is an easy, tough perennial to grow in a garden, where it can be aggressive. It needs to be dug up and divided after a few years to keep it neat. There are a number of cultivars selected with white or pink or red flowers.
  • Posted by KFredenburg (Black Hills, SD - Zone 5a) on Jun 18, 2020 7:13 PM concerning plant:
    Among this species' several common names, Milfoil and Plumajillo (which is not listed in the database, and it means "little feather") refer to the divided leaves, and Sneezeweed (also not listed in the database) and Nosebleed may derive from the irritating odor. Spanish Californians once steeped leaves in water to treat cuts and bruises and to stop bleeding.
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