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Red Yarrow 'Cassis' (Achillea millefolium)

from $8.99

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium • Bloom Season: Summer to Fall • Bloom Color: Red to Pink • Host Plant: Painted lady

A selection of our native yarrow in deep wine red, aging to a soft dusty rose as the flowers mature, so a single plant carries two colors at once. Tidier and more compact than the white species.

Because this is a cultivar of a native plant rather than a wild plant, its ecological value is just as good as that of the mother Achillea millefolium. The flower form is unchanged, so small bees, hoverflies and beneficial wasps still visit it, and it still hosts painted lady caterpillars.

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium • Bloom Season: Summer to Fall • Bloom Color: Red to Pink • Host Plant: Painted lady

A selection of our native yarrow in deep wine red, aging to a soft dusty rose as the flowers mature, so a single plant carries two colors at once. Tidier and more compact than the white species.

Because this is a cultivar of a native plant rather than a wild plant, its ecological value is just as good as that of the mother Achillea millefolium. The flower form is unchanged, so small bees, hoverflies and beneficial wasps still visit it, and it still hosts painted lady caterpillars.

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium

Cultivar: 'Cassis'

Common Name: Red Yarrow

Native: Cultivar

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Low

Bloom Time: Summer to fall

Bloom Color: Wine red fading to rose

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W Not recorded x H 12"-24"

Soil: Well-drained; thrives in lean, rocky soil

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping; less running than the species

Available As: Live plant

Native Region: Great Basin; Sierra Nevada; Cascade Range; Southern Rocky Mountains; Colorado Plateau; Pacific Northwest; Western Great Plains (widespread)

Host Plant (Great Basin): painted lady

Growing Notes

Full sun and lean ground, same as the species. The color holds deepest in strong sun and full heat, and washes toward pink faster in part shade or a wet year. Space about 15 inches apart. Seedlings will not come true, so deadhead to keep the color.

  • Water: Low

  • Sun: Full Sun

  • Soil: Well-drained; thrives in lean, rocky soil

  • Mature size: 12" to 24"

Maintenance

Shear spent flowers to keep it blooming and to keep it from seeding around. As with the white yarrow, cut this one all the way back rather than leaving a third standing, since the seed is where the spread comes from. Divide every three or four years.