I tried one of the red ones a while back and didn't care for it. After a couple of days the blooms faded to a muddy brown color. I can't remember if it was Terra Cotta or is there one called Fireland? Anyway, I took it out. Also had a purple one that faded. I felt they were too weedy looking and have never been happy with any of them except Moonshine, but that's just MHO.

I like yarrow in the right spot, the blooms last a long time, and I like the ferny foliage. To my eye, yarrow is one of those plants that has to be sited properly because it can look out of place in a more formal or "controlled" setting - it's a design issue with me, not a performance issue.

I have grown "Summer Pastels" in the past, and the plants performed very well. Last season I picked up "Appleblossom", if I remember correctly, seems to be doing well so far but not blooming yet.

Had Moonshine for the zippy yellow color and flower shape, but it didn't like my yard for whatever reason--terminally droopy leaves no matter how much or how little moisture was in the soil, not a lot of blooms, general failure to thrive. Maybe my soil was too heavy of clay for it, maybe I didn't have it in full enough sun. Just never looked good, all stunted and weedy and sad. I must be the only person who can't grow it well, it grows in neglected parking lot plantings, for pete's sake. I'm tempted to try it again, but not sure it's really worth the effort and money--lots of other yellow fish in the perennial sea.

I have Pretty Belinda which is medium pink and Pomegranate which is dark fuscia pink. I like the foliage on yarrow so that is a big draw for me by itself. Then I saw Pomegranate bloom as an established plant last year. LOVE it and am thrilled to see all of the buds on it again this year.

I love Terra Cotta, the rich coppery color that fades to beige. Looks great with purple foliage, and before the voles arrived, I once had a magnificent trumpet lily in exactly the same shade as the copper that hung over the planting. And I have Fireland, rusty red that fades to old gold in a large planting mixed with a rusty red daylily with a gold throat. Fabulous contrast in texture with the same colors. But, I have found the red/pink varieties--all A. millefoliums--to be wispy, and much too spreading.

I recently added TerraCotta to try. The plants are small and not yet blooming. I am interested to see if it performs as well as the gold yarrow that I have. I planted it in the butterfly garden where there are a lot of orange, red, and purple colors.

Since I use a lot of deep pinks in another section of the garden, I've wondered about those colors. It's good to hear feedback on the colors as I am concerned about the fading on those, too.

I think it is Coronation Gold (lost label) that I planted last year. First year, it didn't impress me, but this year it is gorgeous! I'm starting a transition section along the top of the butterfly garden where it meets the meadow.

I've planted nepeta 'Walkers Low', salvia 'Caradonna' (barely visible at far end of photo) and verbena bonariensis with the yarrow. The purple and yellow blooms work great together and look like a wildflower meadow.

Since it's not a mature section, it's hard to get a good photo, but I will continue to fill in with these same plants and will hopefully have a nice mass planting in a year or so.

Cameron

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My favorite is Paprika. It is a bright red color. I also like Terra Cotta but it is ugly when the blooms fade.

I have Coronation Gold which has nice silvery fern-looking leave but seems to be stingy with the blooms this year. This plant looks nice when not blooming too so that's a plus.

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far. It sounds like most of the named cultivars (again except for Moonshine and Coronation Gold) still spread somewhat around. I also think that the right placement can do a lot to bring out the best in them. I guess the fading colors is a matter of opinion, to some it looks lovely to some it's a flaw. Ain't gardening great? :-) I think I will try Paprika, Terra Cotta and a "borrowed" start from near where I work and give them a chance in my yard... we'll see how they turn out. Thanks again, everyone for your feedback!

I'm another fan of Paprika...it is such a beautiful plant. In our Butterfly garden we have a large coronation gold next to a Paprika and they both look gorgeous.
Joann

I have Athena, which is a lighter version of Coronation Gold. It's a creamy yellow color which goes with about everything. And it's VERY well behaved. My daughter had some of the pink ones, while they are pretty when in bloom, they are not worth the aggrevation of trying to get rid of them when they start to spread everywhere. Her pink ones went under a sidewalk and came up the other side, into cracks between the sidewalk slabs, into the grass, etc. Any yarrow that has "millefolium" in the name, I'd stay far away from.

Linda

This is certainly a "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" type situation, LOL.

I find that Terra Cotta holds its color way longer than the red varieties. Mine ages to a nice gold color, and I love the way the fresh coppery orange blooms look mingled in with the older golden ones. Here it is last year, paired with Blue Oat Grass, which is much bigger this year.

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And unlike some of the others that have responded, I was disappointed in Paprika. The pictures always show it as brick red, but mine are more of a cherry red, which fades to a dusty pink, which looked awful next to all of the orange and yellow plants that surrounded it.

I also have Walter Funke, which is very similar to Fireland. The first year, I was disappointed with it, because it quickly faded to a goldish tan color, but last year, it kind of grew on me, and I think it's a matter of pairing it with something that compliments it. For example, something lemon yellow next to it, would make the golden tan color look more brown, but if it's paired with something rusty red, it would look fine.

Bonnie

I used to grow Summerwine.

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Very pretty raspberry color which would fade to a light pink. In the picture it's growing with coreopsis zagreb and sedum purple emperor.

Love the yarrow and sedum combination in that pic!

For a nice change, you can also try another yarrow: it remains a clump, gently getting wider every year. Doesn't need any staking by me.
The foliage is somewhat unusual for a yarrow, and the colour is unusual too: a pretty pinkish lavender.
Its name is Achillea sibirica 'Love Parade'.
It starts blooming by mid-end june here, continuing until september/october.
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Zeph

A2zmom -- why did you stop growing summerwine? That's a color that I've been thinking about trying.

Thanks,
Cameron

Hi Cameron!

All Achilleas really need to be divided every three years. In 2007 I didn't get around to it and as a result, last year it had dwindled to almost nothing. (It didn't help that I was working 60 hours a week, including weekends so my garden suffered a lot.)

Anyway, this year of course it was gone, so I decided to try something new - Penstemon dark towers. I planted one as a test last year and it took off, so we'll so how it all pulls together.

I do plan to eventually put in Summerwine again, but first I need to add back in some sand. The clay soil that I have does not do those plants any favors.

MXK3, glad to hear you like that combo. It was a happy accident, but a very pretty one.

I stopped growing 'Summer Wine' because it was too wispy and looked awful after bloom. BTW, I have never divided either 'Fireland' or 'Terra Cotta', though I have nibbled pieces from the former to give away. 'Moonshine', a clumper, does need to be divided regularly in the fall to keep it young and vigorous.

I just pulled up and tossed a huge clump of Cerise Queen. I really liked the bloom color, but this plant multiplied like crazy and just lay all over the place. It was more like a ground cover. I only have one other cultivar of yarrow and it was a shared plant so I don't know what it is. The flower is yellow, then red, but it stands upright. I don't like the flower nearly as well, but the plant habit is much better. Which other yarrows have an upright habit? I really don't care for lazy, fall down plants.

I planted 2 Anthea last year which bloomed really nicely and lasted a long time. I was very happy with them as the color lasted beyond many of the other things in the border.

On that note, though, this year so far I only have one flower stalk on one, and nothing on the other. As a first time grower of this, does anybody have any ideas?

Here's another thought: dedicate a bed to 'badly behaved plants.' I have my Monarda varieties, and my yarrow in here. Other ones present are Swamp Milkweed (not badly behaved, just big, so it fits in here), and some phlox. Sorry, I'm not sure of the yarrow variety shown here; it's not as deep pink as the Summer Wine...just very pink. There's a spirea shrub on the left just off the picture, and this is from last year when I allowed the top section of this bed to be inhabited by sunflowers- UGH! And pardon the weeds; this obviously was taken when I hadn't gotten in there in a while.

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I like "Strawberry" though it does seem a little invasive. It is a bright pinky-red but does fade. My "Cornation Gold" is always well behaved.

Achillea millefoliums can be invasive depending on where you grow it. It prefers poor sandy soil and low humidity. If that's your growing conditions, it's likely to be a heavy seeder. Here in the northeast with my clay soil, not an issue. If fact, I would have been happy if it had seeded a bit.

I love yarrow, but it is such a funny plant to me! Growing up, my Mom and I used to walk along railroad tracks and pick yarrow to dry. To me, it's a weed!!! LOL* It grows all over around here in a creamy/tan color, and I remembered I about died laughing the first time I saw it in a catalog. But you know, I love all the new colors and have five or six different kinds in my garden now! LOL* Love it. :)

mmqchdygg - - I love that border! I see only beauty and no weeds...

Carrie

I have wonderful wampee which is a light lavender pink one. It's the second season for me and I really like it. It only grows to about 22" and it doesn't flop for me. And best of all it bloomed for 12 weeks last summer!