What Would a Cottage Garden be without Yarrow?

Imagine: you are walking up the stone path of a cottage garden. Bees and butterflies are flying all around the patches of flowers lining either side of the walkway. What do you imagine there? Roses and rosemary, I am sure.

I imagine yarrow. White yarrow and pink yarrow too.

Achillea millefolium ~ is such an integral part of my gardening journey. I use the flowers in teas as much as I use them in decorative bouquets. The plant is very hardy to cold as well as to heat and adapts well to dry locations as well as places with seasonal rain. In general I would say this is definitely a temperate climate plant though could grow in topical areas in a pot & under a roof in a sunny location.

Yarrow is a perennial plant that has grown for years on the sloped are just outside my garden. No annual plants could thrive in this location. It receives full sun & rarely gets watered. Also a horse grazes around this spot a couple times a week. Apparently horses don't have a taste for yarrow and instead weed the area free of grass while leaving my beloved flowers alone.

Uses of Yarrow

This herb is great for beginner herbalists! Not only because it is super easy to grow but also because yarrow can be applied to a variety of conditions. I originally got to know yarrow in teas to soothe painful menstruation and have recently begun to employ yarrow in the famous tea to combat cold which consists of 1 part yarrow, 1 part dried elder flower, and 1 part mint leaf.

The tea helps raise the body's internal temperature which helps the body to sweat out toxins and burn off the infection. Used externally yarrow can help with cuts & burns by pouring a tea of the flowers and leaves over any abrasions. You could also dunk a clean cloth in the tea to hold over a cut or burn once it has been thoroughly cleaned.

Last summer a friend called on me to provide yarrow flowers for a yearly digestive "reset" she was doing. Among other herbs her herbalist had prescribed yarrow flowers to take over the course of three months to help cleanse the digestive system of candida. I had forgotten about this use for yarrow! The yarrow harvest has come early and I have more plants than ever before. So, these days I have been trying to include the fresh yarrow flowers in different ways, like adding the flowers to my daily mate drinks to best harness all the different benefits of this lovely flower.