HEALING POWER
Yarrow has both styptic and antimicrobial properties, and has long been used for its power to heal. Ancient Greeks were treating skin wounds with yarrow more than 3,000 years ago. The genus name of achillea comes from the Greek hero Achilles, who is said to have used the plant to heal his soldiers’ wounds on the battlefield. During the Crusades, knights carried yarrow for its wound-healing abilities, and the practice was still in use in the 1860s during the American Civil War. Some of the plant’s alternative common names refer to its ability to staunch blood flow, including knight’s milfoil, woundwort and staunchweed. Used as a poultice, it was found to also relieve pain, due to its natural analgesic qualities. Yarrow is still used in homeopathic remedies today. Picking a sprig of the plant while reciting a rhyme and then placing it under the pillow at night was said to reveal one’s future spouse in a dream. The rhymes varied, depending on the region.
“Thou pretty herb of Venus’ tree, Thy true name is yarrow; Now who my bosom friend may be, Pray tell thou me to-morrow”
Traditional rhyme
Planting partners
Achilleas are ideal for ornamental borders as well as cottage gardens; the flat, horizontal flower heads contrast particularly well with tall, narrow plants such as lupins, and they also look very effective with sea holly.
They are popular features in prairie planting schemes because they form such strong seedheads. Prairie planting uses drifts of stiff-stemmed, late summer and autumn flowering perennials, and these are left to overwinter before being cut down the following spring.
Achilleas work beautifully with grasses: the burnt-orange blooms of ‘Terracotta’ fade to cream in time, so it looks wonderful with bleached summer grasses, such as Stipa tenuissima or the barley-like annual Hordeum jubatum. They are also suitable for growing in containers, so long as there is plenty of drainage to prevent the soil becoming waterlogged.
Achilleas make excellent cut flowers and are perfect for use in dried flower arrangements; freshly cut blooms can be tied into bundles and then hung upside down to dry. The dried heads of achillea will retain their colour for months, allowing their beauty to be enjoyed for even longer.
Warning: Achilleas can be poisonous to dogs, cats and horses if consumed in large enough quantities. The bitter taste of the plant is likely to dissuade most animals from eating very much of it, so yarrow poisoning is rare, with symptoms in most cases limited to gastrointestinal upset. However, it is something that should be borne in mind when considering these plants for the garden.