yarrow ‘Moonshine’

Achillea ‘Moonshine’ (yarrow) is a favorite of Lurie Garden staff, bringing wonderful color, texture, and beneficial insects to the summer garden. As a genus, this Asteraceae is native to temperate areas of Asia, Europe, and North America. A. ‘Moonshine’ is a cultivated hybrid of A. clypeolata and A. ‘Taygetea’.

Achillea ‘Moonshine’ grows to 60 cm tall with a 30 cm spread and has a clump-forming and upright habit. Given this upright and compact growth habit, planting A. ‘Moonshine’ in large masses or sweeps is often recommended.

Leaves of this cultivar are deeply-dissected and fern-like with a silvery gray-green color. Flowers are tiny, lemon-yellow in color borne on densely packed, flattened compound corymb (flowering head). Plants bloom from June-September and are known to be long-lasting. Fading corymbs can be deadheaded to force a second bloom, although second flowering is not quite as good as the first round. Flowers are very attractive to honeybees, bumble bees, and many other pollinators.

Achillea ‘Moonshine’ is highly drought resistant and will tolerate poor soils. Bacterial leaf spot and powdery mildew can become a problem if mass plantings become too dense or soils are poorly drained. Minor pruning for better airflow through large plantings will solve these issues.

At Lurie Garden, A. ‘Moonshine’ is used to continue the themes of yellow flower color and flat-topped flower structure into the summer months. Zizia aurea (golden Alexander) brings these features to the spring garden, while A. ‘Moonshine’ carries these themes into the summer and fall garden.