Yarrow Varieties: 15 Top Choices To Transform Your Garden
Discover 15 stunning yarrow varieties for every garden style—attract pollinators, enjoy vibrant color, and low-maintenance beauty.
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15 Gorgeous Yarrow Varieties to Transform Your Garden
Yarrow (Achillea spp.) is a must-have perennial for gardeners seeking vibrant color, pollinator appeal, and easy-care charm. With delicate, feathery foliage and an array of flower hues from white to bold pink, yellow, or red, yarrow brings life and texture to any border, bed, or container. Below, we explore 15 exquisite yarrow varietiesâeach with its own unique beauty and benefits for your garden.
Why Grow Yarrow?
Yarrow isnât just beautiful; itâs also incredibly practical and resilient:
- Thrives in USDA Zones 3â9, tolerating cold and heat.
- Boasts drought tolerance and low water requirements.
- Attracts butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects.
- Resistant to deer and rabbits thanks to aromatic foliage.
- Makes excellent cut flowers for bouquets and arrangements.
- Easy to propagate and maintainâperfect for beginners.
15 Stunning Yarrow Varieties for Your Garden
From classic whites to bright magentas and golden yellows, here are 15 yarrow varieties celebrated for their beauty, vigor, and unique garden roles.
1. New Vintage Violet
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âNew Vintage Violetâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 12″â14″
- Hardiness Zones: 4â9
This compact yarrow bursts with pinkish-purple blooms that hold their color for monthsâeven into fall. Ideal for containers and borders, it draws pollinators and features exquisitely airy, grey-green foliage thatâs unappealing to wildlife.
2. Summerwine
- Botanical Name: Achillea âSummerwineâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 1ââ2â
- Hardiness Zones: 3â8
With feathery foliage and deep wine-red flowers that fade beautifully to pale pink, âSummerwineâ offers cool color transitions and blooms well into autumn. Butterflies love its cabernet-colored blossoms, and gardeners enjoy its excellent resistance to pests.
3. Colorado Blend
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium (mixed seed blend)
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: Up to 24″
- Hardiness Zones: 2â9
This showy seed blend produces 2″â4″ flat-topped clusters in red, rose, pink, yellow, and white. These long-blooming, straight-stemmed plants are drought-tolerant and deer resistant, making them practical and pretty for wildflower drifts or pollinator gardens.
4. Common Yarrow
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium (wild-type)
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 1ââ3â
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
The species yarrow is native to North America and Eurasia, offering classic creamy-white blooms and aromatic, finely-dissected leaves. Itâs renowned for reliability, resilience, and supporting native pollinatorsâideal for naturalistic or habitat gardens.
5. Apple Blossom
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âApple Blossomâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
Perfect for cottage and landscape borders, this variety shows off blush-pink flower clusters that look lovely en masse. Soft coloring and upright growth make it a beautiful partner for other perennials or as a calming color drift.
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6. Cerise Queen
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âCerise Queenâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
âCerise Queenâ boasts show-stopping cerise-pink blooms with a compact, vigorous habit. Itâs a favorite for mass plantings, pollinator borders, or cutting gardens thanks to vibrant color and long flowering.
7. Gold
- Botanical Name: Achillea filipendulina âGoldâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2ââ3â
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
With its tall stature and flat-topped, intensely yellow blossoms, âGoldâ is a garden classic. It thrives in the sunniest spots and stands out against green backgrounds, offering striking vertical interest.
8. Summer Pastels
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âSummer Pastelsâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
This variety is beloved in cutting gardens for its pastel paletteâsoft pinks, creams, and yellows. It offers a gentle, romantic touch to borders and bouquets alike, with sturdy stems for fresh or dried arrangements.
9. Favorite Berries
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âFavorite Berriesâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
Another cutting-garden favorite, âFavorite Berriesâ offers a sweet medley of pinks, reds, and purples. Its berry-inspired hues are a delight in summer arrangements and provide a long bloom period in the landscape.
10. Moonshine
- Botanical Name: Achillea âMoonshineâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
âMoonshineâ offers clusters of sunny yellow blooms atop silvery, aromatic foliage. Renowned for its heat and drought tolerance, it thrives in rock gardens and is especially vivid against dark-leaved companions.
11. Terra Cotta
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âTerra Cottaâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 24â30″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
Enjoy sunset-inspired color with âTerra Cottaââits blooms shift through peach, copper, and gold as they mature, adding dynamic warmth to the garden.
12. Paprika
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âPaprikaâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
This fiery cultivar sports vivid red blooms with a golden center, fading to pink as the season progresses. âPaprikaâ is a standout in hot borders and pollinator gardens.
13. Coronation Gold
- Botanical Name: Achillea filipendulina âCoronation Goldâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 24â36″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
With tall stems and large umbels of deep yellow flowers, âCoronation Goldâ makes a striking statement and is frequently used in large-scale landscape plantings for its durability.
14. Red Beauty
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âRed Beautyâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
âRed Beautyâ lives up to its name with clusters of intense, ruby-red flowers. It makes a powerful focal point in sunny beds and borders.
15. Peachy Seduction
- Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium âPeachy Seductionâ
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 18â24″
- Hardiness Zones: 3â9
With peach-hued blooms and compact growth, âPeachy Seductionâ is a delight in front-of-border plantings, containers, and pollinator patches.
Caring for Yarrow Varieties
Yarrow is easy to grow and maintain. Here are key tips:
- Prefers well-drained soil and full sun exposure.
- Tolerates poor soil and is ideal for xeriscaping.
- Water sparingly once established; too much water can cause leggy growth.
- Deadhead spent blooms to prolong flowering and restrict unwanted self-seeding.
- Divide clumps every 2â3 years to keep plants vigorous.
Design Inspiration: How to Use Yarrow in Your Garden
- Perfect for wildflower meadows, pollinator gardens, and low-maintenance beds.
- Mix bold colors for a vibrant, informal look, or group soft pastels for serene borders.
- Interplant with ornamental grasses, lavender, or coreopsis for texture and contrast.
- Use as a filler in cut flower bouquets or let dry for everlasting arrangements.
- Plant in containers or small garden spaces for easy color and pollinator appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What are the best yarrow varieties for pollinators?
A: Classic wild-type Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) and colorful blends like âColorado Blendâ attract a wide range of bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
Q: Are all yarrow varieties deer resistant?
A: Yes, virtually all yarrow cultivars have fragrant, bitter foliage that is naturally repellent to deer and rabbits.
Q: Can I grow yarrow in pots or containers?
A: Absolutely! Compact varieties such as âNew Vintage Violetâ and âPeachy Seductionâ are ideal for container gardensâjust ensure good drainage.
Q: How do I propagate yarrow?
A: Yarrow can be propagated by division, seed, or softwood stem cuttings. Dividing mature clumps in early spring or fall is the simplest method.
Q: Is yarrow safe for pets?
A: While yarrow is generally safe in gardens, ingesting large quantities may cause mild digestive upset in pets. Most animals avoid the plant naturally due to its aroma and taste.
Conclusion
Yarrow offers unmatched versatility, resilience, and ornamental beauty for every type of gardener. From the compact âNew Vintage Violetâ to the showy âSummerwineâ and the native wild-type, thereâs a yarrow variety to suit every style and space. Their pollinator-attracting blooms, low maintenance needs, and dazzling range of colors make them a staple in gardens across the world.
References
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