Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

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Common yarrow

Habit (mature) · Petar Milošević / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Limited coverage

Common yarrow

Achillea millefolium

A drought- and heat-tolerant perennial in the daisy family with fern-like aromatic foliage and flat-topped flower clusters. Native to temperate North America, Europe, and western Asia; one of the most climate-resilient pollinator plants for full-sun beds, lawn alternatives, and naturalized meadows.

Native: 50 US states + 13 CA provinces

Review: Source-backed

Climate fit: broad (90/100)

Pollinator

Border

Filler

Light

Full sun

Water

Low water

Mature size

12-36" tall · 18" apart

Hardy in zones

3a-9b

brutally cold to frosty winters

Summer heat range

Cool-Hot

cool to hot summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.

Native in Illinois

Yes

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Transplanting and establishment

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Fertility and feeding

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Harvest and processing

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Native across 63 US states and Canadian provinces — a wide-ranging part of North America's plant communities.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Cold hardiness

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7b

Plotwright

Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)

Well-suited

In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

°C

°F

Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 40 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Chilean Matorral

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Pollination

Self-fertile

Self-fertile — one plant produces viable seed, though seed set improves with cross-pollination from nearby plants. The flat-topped flower heads are heavily worked by bees, butterflies, skippers, and predatory beneficial insects (hoverflies, parasitic wasps) — yarrow is one of the canonical "insectary" plants for integrated pest management.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Fly

Hover flies (flower flies) (Syrphidae)

Nectar forage

Other

Green lacewings (Chrysopidae)

Nectar forage

Bee

Common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)

Bumblebees work the flat-topped corymbs heavily through summer; yarrow is one of the most reliable mid-season pollinator plants for full-sun beds.

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Nectar forage

Butterfly

Skipper butterflies (Hesperiidae (family-level entry))

Short-tongued skippers find yarrow especially accessible because the small corolla tubes match their proboscis length.

Pollen forage

Bee

Sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.)

Small sweat bees in the Lasioglossum genus visit the tiny ray florets in dense numbers; yarrow flower-head architecture supports both large and small bee species concurrently.

For people

Edible with preparation

Leaves and flowers are bitter but edible in small quantities — used raw in salads, brewed as a tea, or infused into bitters and traditional beverages. Traditional medicinal use in many cultures (the binomial "Achillea" references Achilles using it for wound care in Greek mythology); the modern Latin "millefolium" means thousand-leaf. NC State explicitly notes that contact dermatitis is possible in sensitive individuals.

Edible parts

leaves, flowers

Culinary use

Bitter herbal teas, traditional bitters preparations, light salad accent. Use sparingly — yarrow is potent and not a forage-volume edible.

Pet toxicity

NC State Extension lists Achillea millefolium as a problem for cats, dogs, and horses; do not allow grazing.

Traditional medicinal use

Long traditional medicinal use across European, North American Indigenous, and Asian healing traditions — the genus name "Achillea" derives from the Greek hero Achilles who reportedly used it for wound care. NC State documents traditional use but does not recommend internal medicinal use without expert guidance.