Achillea millefolium Seeds | Red Yarrow
LATIN NAME: Achillea millefolium
COMMON NAME: Red Yarrow, Cerise Queen Yarrow, Common Yarrow
Plant Profile
Red Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a tough, clumping perennial in the daisy family. It is a species of flowering plant in daisy family, native to Europe and temperate Asia, while it is grown as a fine garden plant, and this ‘Cerise Queen’ strain is prized for its rich, deep-cerise bloom. At maturity it stands about One metre. Through the flowering season it keeps visiting bees well supplied. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
The species features in the wider study of the daisy family, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. Yarrow has a real and distinguished place in the research. Nothing exotic is required: standard seed-sowing practice, done carefully, is enough.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Red Yarrow for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Ecologically, yarrow is a generous plant of the garden. Its flat-topped heads of many small flowers feed bees and many insects, and its fine, feathery foliage gives a neat, airy presence to border and wild garden. For a grower, yarrow is an easy and rewarding plant, and for a gardener it brings a fine, feathery, flat-topped, cerise-flowered plant to the border. Thereafter it wants only the ordinary attentions any garden plant receives.
Yarrow is one of Europe’s oldest medicinal plants, traditionally applied to wounds to slow bleeding, which is why folklore links it to Achilles. Modern analysis confirms flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones and the anti-inflammatory compound chamazulene, and herbalists still value it in teas for colds and digestive upset.
Growing from Seed
Red Yarrow is one of those generous plants that come along well from seed. Use a loose, well-drained seed compost, sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly, and keep everything evenly moist in bright light. Once the seedlings have made true leaves, pot them on individually and plant out when they are sturdy and conditions are right.
Our Take
The traditional uses covered above are what first made this species worth cultivating. Red Yarrow, Cerise Queen Yarrow, Common Yarrow has real presence in the garden without demanding much in return. Keep the sowing evenly moist at the start — that is the one real requirement.
Related Reading
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