Achillea millefolium
Achillea millefolium, more commonly known as yarrow, is a UK native perennial wildflower with umbels of small flowers providing a convenient landing pad for insects. It is a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae) It is a valuable source of nectar for bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and flies, and has a long flowering period, from June to October, and sometimes into November.
Gardeners regard it as a companion plant to their vegetable or flower crops because some of the insects it attracts feed on pests. Ladybirds eat aphids, just as the larvae of hoverflies do. Lacewings eat mites, aphids and whiteflies, while parasitic wasps lay eggs inside garden pests.
The foliage remains green and ferny even in drought. The plant can also withstand wet conditions, but it needs to grow in full sun and will not thrive in shade. It gives shelter and food to the larvae of several moths, notably pug moths, though its natural oils are said to repel mosquitoes. The closely divided leaves are a folk remedy for treating cuts and stopping bleeding.
Yarrow spreads through seeds, and rhizomes will produce new shoots up to 30 cms from the original plant.
I love Yarrow. The flowers are so very beautiful up close, so delicate. I haven't seen the red kind before!
ReplyDeleteIt's such an undemanding plant, too.
DeleteThank you for the photos of the colors and beauty of yarrow. Now I want to plant some in my gardens. It has been maybe 10 years since I grew yarrow.
ReplyDeleteIt's cheerful and pretty.
DeleteA beautiful tansy flower, I've seen it but never knew it was called that... it's special and delicate, seen in bouquets :))
ReplyDeleteWishing you a lovely Monday!
Thank you. 😄
DeleteI like yarrow in all its colours and have tried to grow some here but the creepy crawlies ate whatever greenery dared show it's head above the soil. I'll keep it in mind though in case I get a chance to move to where there is a better garden.
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame, but you have other, pretty flowers not available to us.
DeleteThere is a lot about this beautiful plant that I did not know yet, for instance that rabbits and deer don‘t eat it, or that its leaves can help heal cuts and stop bleeding.
ReplyDeleteMany people struggle to find things that deer in particular won't eat. It's not a problem for me - the deer stay in the woods.
DeleteI really like yarrow. I have the white yarrow growing but I would love to grow the dark red as I saw it at the Hamilton Gardens & it was stunning.
ReplyDeleteIt is so pretty and the bees and butterflies love it.
DeleteMy multi coloured Yarrow reverted to white - probably crossing with all the wild plants of the roadsides.
ReplyDeleteMore than likely!
DeleteI have grown it here but it spreads too much for my small garden.
ReplyDeleteI can see that it could become a problem.
DeleteA fairly unassuming flower; your photos raise it to a higher rank than in actuality it appears, wild, in the garden.
ReplyDeleteOften it's mown down all the time in a lawn. Not a problem here. It's either a nuisance or it's welcomed and allowed to grow tall.
ReplyDeleteIt is plentiful around here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not everyone's favourite, but I like it, and so do the insects.
DeleteI used to have a lot of yarrow in my front flower bed. It got choked out by something that got in ther. Now I can see leaves growing in several places in my yard but it never flowers because it gets mowed
ReplyDeleteThat's what usually happens!
DeleteForgot to log in the anonymous comment was me
ReplyDelete😄
DeleteAh, perhaps that's why one of my plants isn't doing as well as the others: it's in more shade.
ReplyDeleteThat could be it. Mine are all in full sun and loving it.
DeleteI like it although I know not everyone does!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know its leaves can help heal cuts and stop bleeding.
Have a good week ... I'm still doing my rain dance ... to no affect LOL!
All the best Jan
Keep dancing, Jan!
DeleteWe have yarrow in the wild, but I think it is just white.
ReplyDeleteI think it's only the cultivars that are coloured.
DeleteYarroway, yarroway, bear a white blow,
ReplyDeleteIf my love love me, my nose will bleed now.
You had to stick a leaf up your nose of course to test the fidelity of your love;)
I knew yarrow could make your nose bleed but never knew why anyone would stuff it up their nose. Now, thanks to you, Thelma, I do - and I've learnt a new rhyme!
DeleteVery pretty and I'm loving the word "umbrel"
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice word, like a short umbrella.
DeleteGreat mix of colors!
ReplyDeleteVery cheerful!
DeleteSo pretty and lovely
ReplyDeleteThey're dainty individual flowers gathered into a huge umbrel.
DeleteBeautiful and the array of colors adds so much to a garden. Since the buds are so small I can only imagine that the seeds are teeny tiny..
ReplyDeleteI think they are, but it's been a while since I planted any.
DeleteYarrow was always appreciated in my garden beds.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear.
DeleteI like yarrow. And I like the name too.
ReplyDeleteIt's friendly-sounding name, somehow.
DeleteYet more information to store in my overloaded brain! Thank you Janice!
ReplyDeleteJust forget it, like I do, then it surprises you as new when you see it again. 😉
ReplyDeleteIt is such a lovely plant. Ohio native is white and I used to pick and put food coloring in the vase to have pink or blue. I used to have yellow in my old garden years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely plant, but, like so many introductions, it is starting to be considered as invasive in portions of the U.S. state of New York, where I live. We also have native yarrow, and hybrids of European and native yarrow.
ReplyDeleteWow. The only yarrow I have seen here in the US is the white. I've never seen the other colors. So pretty.
ReplyDeleteYarrow is a wonderful plant. I enjoy growing it in my garden.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty.
ReplyDeleteI do like yarrow.
ReplyDeleteThe last picture with that bright color is so pretty.
ReplyDeleteAhhh...the beautiful devil's nettle. I've always love it...and, as I think I've mentioned somewhere along the way, I used to have quite a bit of it growing in my back bed...purple and pink cultivars though. For some reason, the white is not so easily found at the nurseries...perhaps because it grows wild in the ditches, but so easily confused with Queen Anne's lace (which I also love)...and, unfortunately, poison hemlock (which I do not love).
ReplyDelete