For the Yarrow Minded
Looking for an easy-to-grow perennial that blooms throughout summer and fall, and attracts birds and butterflies? Plant yarrow.
This drought-tolerant plant is a proficient bloomer and comes in a variety of colors, including yellow, white, lavender, red, pink, cream, apricot and terra cotta.
“The flowers are great cut, and dry really well,” says Mary Lou Heard, owner of Heard’s Country Gardens in Westminster.
Most yarrow (Achillea) have fern-like, gray-green foliage and grow 2 to 4 feet tall with flat flower heads standing above the foliage. Woolly yarrow (A. tomentosa) makes a good ground cover, reaching 6 to 10 inches high.
Yarrow generally come in 4-inch or 1-gallon pots.
To have the best luck growing yarrow, keep the following in mind.
* Plant in a full sun location with good drainage. Though they can survive in a variety of soil types, yarrow do best in well-draining soil, says Jacob. In the ground, plant them about a foot apart because they will spread.
* Enrich and break up heavy clay soil by adding a soil amendment such as homemade or bagged compost, by 20% to 30%, or add pumice, which will promote drainage. For container plants, use a high-quality potting soil.
* Plant in containers. “Not only does yarrow do well in the ground, they also make excellent container plants,” says Brian Jacob, a horticulturist for Azusa-based Monrovia, a wholesale grower, whose plants can be found in nurseries throughout Southern California.
Yarrow look best if grown in pots with other plants such as ornamental grasses, scabiosa, scented geraniums, artemesia, coreopsis and lavender.
* Water regularly. Yarrow are tolerant of a variety of water conditions.
“Although they are drought-tolerant once established, they can also tolerate regular watering,” Jacob says. “They’d do equally as well alongside a lawn and in a xeriscape garden, which is what makes them so popular.”
* Feed regularly. Heard has the best luck feeding yarrow twice a month with an organic fertilizer. Her favorite food has worm castings, bat guano and sea kelp. Other good organic fertilizers include fish emulsion and alfalfa meal. Humate-based foods also tend to be a good choice.
* Deadhead regularly. Keep yarrow producing blooms throughout the growing season by routinely removing old flowers.
* Cut back in fall. “Perennials want to go to sleep at some point during the year and yarrow are no exception,” Heard says.
She suggests cutting them back hard in October, which will lead to vigorous plants and lots of blooms the following season.
* For a nursery in your area that carries Monrovia products, call (888) 752-6848.
* Heard’s Country Gardens, (714) 894-2444.
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YARROW TYPES
There are a variety of yarrow from which to choose. The following tend to be widely available.
* ‘Cerise Queen’ (A. millefolium): Vibrant pink-red flowers reach 3 feet high. Foliage is gray.
* ‘Lavender Deb’ (A. millefolium): Pastel lavender flowers reach 2 feet high. Fern-like gray-green aromatic foliage forms a 2- to 3-foot-wide clump.
* ‘Moonshine’ (Achillea x): The canary-yellow flowers of this plant are easy to see, even at a distance. Delicate gray-green frond-like foliage grows 1 foot tall and wide, and flowers reach 2 feet tall. ‘Coronation Gold’ is similar, with large, bright yellow flower clusters that reach 3 feet in height.
* ‘Paprika’ (A. millefolium): A popular variety with striking ruby-red flowers that reach 3 feet high. Ferny gray-green foliage is scented and grows 2 feet tall and wide.
* ‘The Pearl’ (A. ptarmica): An erect plant that reaches 2 feet high. It has narrow leaves with finely toothed edges. Flowers are white and double.
* Silvery yarrow (A. clavennae): Dense silvery-gray aromatic foliage and compact ivory-white flowers. It grows in a mounded form 4 to 10 inches high and 2 feet wide.
* Terra cotta (A. millefolium): The color of rich terra cotta, the striking flower heads reach about 2 feet high.
* Woolly yarrow (A. tomentosa): Creates a flat, spreading mat of fern-like, deep green, hairy leaves. Golden or cream flower heads grow 6 to 10 inches long. Even when not in bloom, it makes an attractive, soft ground cover.
