You’ve been looking for a plant that will add beauty and style to your garden, but have you considered Yarrow? In this article we’ll show how easy it is to grow gorgeous plants in any home.

Yarrow is a native plant to North America and will grow in most areas that get plenty of sunshine throughout the day, making it hardy. Yarrow also has other benefits such as being pest resistant with beneficial insects attracted by its beautiful flowers!

The ferny leaves and flower heads of this plant are made up of tightly-packed clusters. The flowers can be white, yellow pink or red in color!

Growing The Yarrow Plant

Disease and drought resistant, easy to propagate and easy to grow, yarrow is a good choice for both urban and rural landscaping. Blooming in late spring through late autumn, yarrow adds visual interest and color to every landscape.

Requiring just an inch of water per week, the yarrow plant will grow most anywhere in well-drained soil. Avoid planting in areas where water tends to pool. Yarrow cannot tolerate “wet feet.”

While yarrow prefers a full-sun location, the plant is tolerant of less than ideal conditions and will do well in a shaded spot. It is virtually care-free.

Planting Yarrow Seeds and Starts

Yarrow plant seeds and starts are available for purchase online or from local home and garden centers. To plant yarrow in your garden, loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 18 inches after removing roots, rocks, and weeds. Add a couple of inches of well-aged herbivore manure (cow, horse, goat, llama, sheep) to the soil and mix in well.

When planting along a fence line or walkway, plant yarrow about 18 inches apart. The hardy plant has no trouble getting established and will spread easily. Although yarrow tends to spread, it is not aggressive. Divide yarrow every three years or as needed to maintain plant vitality.

Yarrow Varieties

A favorite variety of the yarrow plant includes cerise queen. This variety has deep pink flowers and dense, dark green foliage. It’s a traditional gardening favorite.

While common woodland yarrow is a creamy white color, hybrid varieties are available in a broad spectrum of colors including pink, purple, red, and yellow. That being said, the native, creamy white tops are the flower preferred by naturopathic health practitioners.

Maintaining Yarrow Plants

Prune yarrow regularly for the first few seasons. Deadheading promotes flowering and will keep the plant in near-continual bloom. Cut back in late spring before the plant begins to flower. Pruning in the spring will keep the plants dense and shapely and will reduce the height of the plant to avoid a “leggy” look.

5 Reasons to Grow Yarrow

1. Yarrow may accumulate nutrients.

2. It attracts beneficial insects and pollinators.

3. Yarrow makes a good ground cover.

4. It has medicinal uses.

5. Yarrow is edible and useful in crafts.

Yarrow as a Wild Edible

Yarrow is one of Mother Nature’s most sought-after wild edibles. Tender young leaves serve as a leaf vegetable: raw, chopped in a salad, steamed like spinach, or added to stews and soups.

During the Middle Ages, yarrow leaves with their savory-sweet, slightly bitter taste, functioned as a flavoring in beer until most brewers switched to hops. In Sweden, yarrow (known as field hops) is still a favored ingredient in the manufacture of beer. Fans of yarrow-enhanced beer remark that they find it to be significantly more intoxicating than beer brewed with hops.

Yarrow tea is made with 1 ounce of dried herb to 1 pint of boiling water and consumed warm. The tasty tea may be sweetened with honey or sugar. Yarrow tea opens pores, detoxifies the system, and purifies the blood.