Yarrow - a thousand leaves and flowers

Continuation of the cycle "Perennials, easy to care for", beginning in articles:

Perennials, easy to care for
Astilbe, small petals and heliopsis

Who doesn't know yarrow (Achillea)? It grows in forest and steppe zones, occurs in meadows, along roadsides, along forest edges. Moreover, this is such a familiar plant that they do not look at it like a garden flower. But the common yarrow is an interesting plant. If a child breaks his knee, put fresh yarrow, ground into gruel, to it, and you will soon see that it helps and stops the bleeding. The ancient national names of this plant in Russian and European languages indicate the beneficial properties and use in medicine: soldier's, consumptive, cut, military grass. Yarrow is still used in medicine and cosmetics due to its medicinal and astringent properties. Yarrow has a pungent, bitter smell and is a part of liqueurs and liqueurs.

Yarrow is also used to treat flower plants from aphids, ticks, thrips and other small leaf-eating insects in the form of an infusion or decoction. To prepare the infusion, 80 g of dried and crushed herbs are poured with boiling water, insisted for 30-40 minutes, water is added to 1 liter, insisted for two days. Decoctions are prepared in the same ratio, but the mixture is boiled for 30 minutes. After straining in 1 liter of solution add 3 g of soap (M. Aleksandrova, P. Aleksandrov "Garden without toxic chemicals" JSC Fiton, 2001)

As an ornamental plant, flower growers do not really like him; in the garden he is given a secondary role. Although in recent years the number of varieties has been steadily increasing.

Growing conditions... Yarrow prefers lighted places, but it grows well in partial shade, however, it blooms worse. This plant has many advantages, it is undemanding to care, any soil is suitable for it, it is frost-resistant, it tolerates drought well. But there is also a drawback - a tendency to seize someone else's territory, so the curtains have to be divided in a few years.

Views... Yarrow is most commonly grown in gardens. (Achillea millefolium), meadowsweet yarrow (Achillea filipendulina), yarrow ptarmica or whole-leaved (Achillea ptarmica), less often - undersized and creeping varieties: felt yarrow (Achillea tomentosa), golden haired (Achillea chrysocoma) and golden (Achillea aurea).

Yarrow varieties

There are quite a few varieties of yarrow, they are of medium height (40-70 cm) and various colors. The most famous varieties: Laura (Laura) - compact, ruby red with a large white eye and one of the best reds - Red Velvet (Red Velvet) Fenel (Fanal) and Paprika (Paprika) - bright red with a yellow center, Terracotta (Terracotta) - orange-yellow.Fireland (Fireland) is a spectacular color-changing plant, at the beginning of flowering it is deep red, then apricot.

Several years ago I received a variety called Silver Saucer... The variety is interesting, it can be planted in the sun and in partial shade. Luxurious cut leaves, medium-sized baskets solo in the sun. And in partial shade, the decoration is large, greenish-white baskets.

The taller is meadowsweet yarrow (up to 150 cm). There are significantly fewer varieties of this species, all of them with different shades of yellow: Clos of Gold (Cloth of Gold), Gold Plate (Gold Plate), Coronation Gold (Coronation Gold). Coronation Gold is one of the best cut varieties.

In our gardens, a variety of yarrow is common, or ptarmik Pearl oyster, with white double flowers. Florists love this variety for its beauty, unpretentiousness, rapid growth. I have a species ptarmica - a beautiful plant with snow-white simple flowers, silvery leaves. In one season, a luxurious "bush" grows from a tiny cut, it is not aggressive, there are no problems with reproduction, you can simply dig out the root offspring.

Yarrow has good flowers and delicate leaves, it goes well with garden favorites and inconspicuous plants, it will find a place in any corner of the garden. Higher varieties of meadowsweet yarrow create the background of the mixborder, and lower varieties look great with plants such as wormwood, bells, lupines, catnip, ornamental cereals.