Hardiness zones
Sunset 2-24
USDA 2-11
Landscape Use: Annual or perennial accent, mixed flower borders, dried flowers, medicinal gardens
Form & Character: Refined and clumping to bolting when in flower
Growth Habit: Basal clumped except for spring when this plant bolts to flower. Height varies but is generally less than 2 feet.
Foliage/Texture: Green to gray, rosetting to alternate on flower stalks, lanceolate leaves, pinntified to 4"; fine texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Single or multiple corymbs (flat and radial to concave) on unbranched or branched peduncles, multiple colors including yellow; fruit is a compressed achene.
Seasonal Color: Spring
Temperature: Fades fast in full sun when temperatures in Phoenix daily exceed 100oF in late spring.
Light: Full sun as cool season annual, partial light shade as a year around perennial.
Soil: Tolerant
Watering: Regular water needed during warmer weather, but will also take some cool season drought.
Pruning: Cut back flower stalks in summer after bloom.
Propagation: Seed, often part of wildflower mixes
Disease and pests: None
Additional comments: Common yarrow is an old fashioned garden border perennial that is rarely found in central Arizona desert landscapes, though is common elsewhere in the US and is broadly distributed around the northern hemisphere. There are many many new selections with many different flower colors. Yarrow has a long medicinal history that dates back to the Trojan war. Achillea is from Achilles, the Greek warrior who packed yarrow onto wounds of Greek soldiers to stop bleeding. Common yarrow contains the anti-inflammatory compound, azulene.
