Common Name: fern-leaf yarrow
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 3.00 to 4.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: Golden Yellow
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flower: Showy, Good Cut, Good Dried
Leaf: Fragrant
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Dry Soil
Culture
Best grown in lean, dry to medium, well-drained sandy loams in full sun. Does well in average garden soils and tolerates poor soils as long as drainage is good. Avoid heavy clays and moist, rich, fertile soils. Plants tolerate hot and humid summers with some drought. Plants are best sited in locations protected from strong winds. Deadhead spent flower heads to lateral buds to promote additional bloom. Cut plants back to basal leaves after flowering to tidy the planting and to encourage possible additional fall bloom. Divide clumps when they become overcrowded (every 3-4 years). Propagate by seed, cuttings or division.
'Parker's Variety' may be grown from seed and may self-seed in the garden under optimum growing conditions.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Achillea filipendulina, commonly known as fern-leaf yarrow, is an upright, clump-forming yarrow that is native to the Caucasus, Iran and Afghanistan. Deeply-dissected, 1-2 pinnatifid, hairy, fern-like, aromatic (spicy) green leaves (each leaf to 10" long and divided into as many as 15 pairs of linear-lanceolate toothed segments) form an attractive basal clump of foliage. Tiny, long-lasting, bright golden flowers (yellow rays and yellow discs) appear in dense flattened plate-like compound corymbs (to 4" across) throughout summer on stiff, erect stems rising above the foliage to 3-4' tall.
The genus name Achillea refers to Achilles, hero of the Trojan Wars in Greek mythology, who used the plant medicinally to stop bleeding and to heal the wounds of his soldiers.
'Parker's Variety' is an upright, clump-forming yarrow which is noted for its deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic, grayish-green to green foliage and its tiny, long-lasting, bright golden flowers which appear in dense, flattened, plate-like compound corymbs (to 4" across) throughout the summer on stiff, erect stems typically rising 3-4' tall. Foliage has a strong, somewhat spicy aroma which persists when used in dried arrangements.
Problems
Stem rot, powdery mildew and rust are occasional disease problems. Strong summer rain storms with high winds can flatten exposed plantings. Staking of flower stems is often required, particularly if plants are grown in overly rich fertile soils.
Uses
Specimen, group or mass. Borders. Cottage gardens. Containers.