Yarrow Benefits, Uses, and Growing Tips
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Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is one of those rare plants that earns its keep almost everywhere. It’s attractive to pollinators, useful in herbal medicine, naturally drought tolerant, and hardy enough to thrive in poor soil where many other plants struggle.
Whether you want to plant yarrow for its medicinal properties, use it as a companion plant, or simply enjoy its flowers, this “thousand leaf” herb is worth getting to know.
What is Common Yarrow Used for?
In the garden, common yarrow:
- Deters pests with its strong scent and flavor
- Draws minerals up from deep in the soil
- Attracts pollinators and beneficial insects
- Naturally increases the essential oil content of nearby plants
- Works well in low maintenance beds and dry garden borders
Yarrow flower heads attract bees, butterflies, hoverflies, lacewings, and parasitic wasps, making the plant especially valuable in vegetable gardens and permaculture systems.
Yarrow achillea millefolium is also edible and medicinal. The flavor is strong and somewhat bitter, so a little goes a long way.
Young leaves may be added to salads or cooked as greens. The dried leaves can be used for tea or seasoning. Yarrow has also been used historically in beer making as a bittering herb.
Medicinal uses of yarrow include:
- Helping stop minor external bleeding
- Supporting circulation
- Easing fever and congestion
- Providing mild pain relief
- Reducing inflammation
- Supporting wound care with its antimicrobial properties
- Relieving sore throat discomfort
- Treating minor skin irritations such as bug bites, rashes, and sunburn
- Reducing hemorrhoidal swelling and varicose vein discomfort
- Helping ease stomach cramps
As with any medicinal herb, use caution and do your own research before using yarrow internally. Yarrow is not recommended during pregnancy or while nursing. People taking anticoagulants, blood pressure medication, or those with epilepsy should consult a qualified healthcare professional before use.
Some people may have an allergic reaction to yarrow, especially those sensitive to plants in the daisy family. The bruised leaves may occasionally cause contact dermatitis.
Always exercise caution when using wild plants and make sure you have positively identified the plant before use.
Where Does Yarrow Grow Best?
Common yarrow is native to North America and Eurasia and now grows throughout much of the world. It thrives in full sun and well drained soil and is commonly found along roadsides, ditches, prairies, pastures, and disturbed soils.
Once established, yarrow tolerates dry conditions extremely well. In fact, it often performs best in lean soil with moderate neglect. In fertile beds, it can spread aggressively through rhizomes and self-seeding.
I originally decided to grow yarrow because of its medicinal properties and pollinator benefits. It quickly escaped the tidy herb bed where I planted it and now wanders happily through garden edges, lawn areas, and wild corners of our property.
Some gardeners use yarrow as one of several low maintenance ground covers for dry, low traffic areas. The flowers and silvery foliage pair nicely with cottage gardens and prairie plantings.
Plant Characteristics
Common yarrow is a hardy perennial that forms low clumps of fern-like foliage topped by upright flowering stalks. It spreads by rhizomes and seed and can gradually form dense patches.
Most plants grow 1–3 feet tall, depending on growing conditions.
The leaves are soft and feathery, about 6 inches long, with many tiny divisions that give them a delicate appearance. The species name millefolium means “thousand leaf,” referring to the finely divided foliage.
The entire plant has a strong musky scent when crushed, somewhat similar to sage or chrysanthemum.
Wild yarrow most commonly produces white flowers or pale pink flowers, but cultivated varieties are available in shades of yellow flowers, peach, rose, and red flowers. Some ornamental selections even feature blended yellow red blooms.
The flattened flower clusters bloom through summer and early fall. Deadheading spent flower heads encourages continued blooming.
How to Grow Yarrow
If you decide to plant yarrow in your garden, give it room to spread. Space plants roughly 1–3 feet apart and avoid damp, soggy areas.
For best results:
- Plant in full sun
- Use well-drained or sandy soil
- Avoid over-fertilizing
- Divide overcrowded plants every few years
- Remove spent blooms for longer flowering
- Avoid overly rich soil that causes floppy growth
Yarrow is generally easy to care for, though plants may occasionally develop mildew in humid conditions. Spittlebugs sometimes appear on yarrow, but they rarely cause significant damage. Deer and rabbits usually leave the plants alone due to their strong scent and bitter flavor.
Medicinal Use of Yarrow
Use yarrow fresh, dried, in tinctures, teas, infused oils, or in salves. It belongs in your stash of healing potions.
The best time to harvest yarrow is when the plant is flowering and the leaves are lush and healthy. Fresh leaves can be harvested anytime during the growing season, but the flowering tops are generally considered the most potent.
For traditional medicinal use, many herbalists prefer white or pale pink flowering plants. Bright colored ornamental varieties may not have the same medicinal strength.
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Drying Yarrow
To dry yarrow, harvest long stems with healthy leaves and blossoms attached.
Bundle and hang them upside down in a warm, airy location, or place them on a drying screen. You can also use a dehydrator set to low heat.
If using a dehydrator, removing the leaves and flowers from the thicker stems speeds drying.
Yarrow Tea
To make yarrow tea:
- Add one heaping teaspoon of dried yarrow to a mug
- Pour over boiling water
- Cover and steep for 10 minutes
- Strain and drink warm
Honey may be added if desired. Traditional herbal references often recommend frequent small servings during colds or fever.
Backyard Medicine suggests one mug of tea every two hours for colds and fever until symptoms improve. Follow up with three cups per day, until well.
Fresh Leaves for Wounds and Nosebleeds
Fresh yarrow leaves have a long history of use as a field remedy for minor bleeding.
For nosebleeds, crush fresh leaves slightly and gently insert them into the nostril until bleeding slows. For cuts and scrapes, crush or chop the leaves to release their juices and apply the plant material directly to the wound under a clean bandage.
Dried Leaves for Styptic and Salves
Once dried and powdered, yarrow leaves can be sprinkled lightly over small cuts to help slow bleeding. Yarrow also works well in homemade herbal salves for minor cuts, bug bites, scrapes, and skin irritation.
The Backyard Herbal Apothecary offers a simple recipe for Yarrow All-Purpose Wound Salve.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried yarrow leaf and flower
- 1 cup base oil blend of your choice (coconut oil and olive oil are two of the most shelf stable oils)
- 2-4 tablespoons beeswax pastels or chopped beeswax
Directions
Infuse the yarrow into the oil. (See How to Infuse Herbs for more information.) Strain the oil through muslin or cheese cloth.
Place the oil in a double boiler or heavy bottom pot. Add the beeswax and heat gently until the beeswax is completely melted.
Pour into four 2 ounce containers (or containers of your choice). Allow to cool before sealing the containers. Use within one year. Use this salve for minor cuts, scrapes, bug bites and other skin irritations.
Scientific Interest in Yarrow
Modern researchers continue to study yarrow for its bioactive compounds and traditional medicinal uses.
For those who like digging into scientific research, check out “A review on phytochemistry and medicinal properties of the genus Achillea“. They get into detailed discussion of flavinoids, coumarins, terpenoids and other wonders of the Achillea species.
Other Common Names for Achillea millefolium
Other names for yarrow include:
- Milfoil
- Soldier’s Woundwort
- Carpenter’s Weed
- Bloodwort
- Staunchweed
- Nosebleed Plant
- Herbe Militaris
- Sanguinary
- Yarroway
- Devil’s Plaything
- Bad Man’s Plaything
- Man Pepper
(Source: A Modern Herbal.)
The genus name, Achillea, comes from the legend of Achilles. Achilles used the plant to bleeding wounds during the Trojan War.
A Hardy Herb With a Long History
Whether you grow yarrow for pollinators, herbal remedies, drought resistance, or simply its cheerful blooms, this tough perennial has earned its place in gardens for centuries.
Once established, common yarrow asks for very little while giving back quite a bit. It continues to thrive along roadsides, in gardens, and beside homesteads around the world.
More Herbal Resources
This post is part of the Weekly Weeder series, where we teach you how to use wild plants.
Other posts in the series include:
- Recommended Foraging and Wildcrafting Books
- Stinging Nettle – One of Most Useful Wild Plants
- Broadleaf Plantain – The “Weed” You Won’t Want to Be Without
For more in depth plant studies, consider The Herbal Academy. The Herbarium is a great place for research, plus they have online courses from beginner to advanced.
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie was raised on a small dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin, where she gathered wildflowers from the woods and pastures. She and her family now live in northeast Wisconsin, where they combine intentional plantings and semi-wild areas. Every season is a new opportunity to learn more about working with wild plants.
Originally posted in 2012, last updated in 2026.
I started some yarrow seedlings this spring. When I transplanted them outside, some critter kept digging them up overnight! After 2 or 3 times of tenderly replacing them and tucking them back into the ground, I finally put some plastic forks around them tines-up. This helped some, but only 1 of the insulted plants survived the ordeal. Said critter also dug up a cosmos, and my dill plant disappeared that 1st night. Any idea who the culprit might have been?
Without spotting the perpetrator, I’m guessing, but it could be a ground hog. They are often active at night, and snack on a wide array of plants.
Wild rabbits tend to avoid herbs, at least in my gardens. Ground squirrels (pocket gophers) are usually active during the day, too, to they’d be more obvious. The same goes for squirrels and chipmunks. Skunks like to dig for grubs in the soil, so they’ll disturb plantings, but don’t often eat the plants themselves. Racoons usually wait until there’s something big and tasty that you’re almost ready to harvest, then chew on it the night before you pick. Mice and rats like fruit and veggies better than plants.
You can keep an eye out for tracks and scat, or set up a game cam (like this one) to monitor your garden at night.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Even in an urban environment there is a great deal of practical knowledge in what you right.
Thanks. Jeremy. I’m partial to rural life, but we still all need to cover the basics, wherever we live.
Love all your content; easy to read, understand, and take the next steps on my own.
I’m glad you find it helpful. Tell your friends! We’re being bumped out of search results by Big Pharma.
Please keep up the amazing work. I love the info you provide about herbs.
Catherine
Thanks, Catherine.