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Yarrow 'Summer Pastels' (Achillea millefolium)

from $8.99

Botanical name: Achillea millefolium • Bloom season: Summer to fall • Bloom color: Mixed pastels (cream, apricot, rose, lilac) • Pollinator value: Nectar and pollen for small native bees and beneficial insects • Host plant: Painted lady

This cultivar is from a seed strain rather than a single clone, so a planting comes up in a mix of cream, apricot, rose, and lilac, and no two plants are quite alike. The soft colors sit well against silver foliage, and the flat heads do the same work for small pollinators as the straight species. For anyone who wants the toughness of yarrow without a single block of one color.

Botanical name: Achillea millefolium • Bloom season: Summer to fall • Bloom color: Mixed pastels (cream, apricot, rose, lilac) • Pollinator value: Nectar and pollen for small native bees and beneficial insects • Host plant: Painted lady

This cultivar is from a seed strain rather than a single clone, so a planting comes up in a mix of cream, apricot, rose, and lilac, and no two plants are quite alike. The soft colors sit well against silver foliage, and the flat heads do the same work for small pollinators as the straight species. For anyone who wants the toughness of yarrow without a single block of one color.

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium

Cultivar: 'Summer Pastels'

Common Name: Yarrow

Native: Cultivar

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

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Low

Bloom Time: Summer to fall

Bloom Color: Mixed pastels (cream, apricot, rose, lilac)

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Host Plant: Painted lady

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: H 18"-24"

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

Pollinator Value: Nectar and pollen for small native bees and beneficial insects

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping; self-sows

Available As: Live plant

Growing Notes

Full sun and lean, well-drained ground. Because it is a seed strain, plant several to get the full color range rather than expecting it from one plant. Space about 15 inches apart. Colors are strongest in the first flush and soften as the season goes on.

  • Water: Low

  • Sun: Full Sun

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

  • Mature size: W Not recorded x H 18"-24"

Maintenance

Shear spent flowers to keep it going and to control seeding. Volunteers drift back toward less distinct colors over a few generations, so pull the ones you do not want. Cut back hard in fall rather than leaving stems standing, following the yarrow exception. Divide every three or four years.