Yarrow

A vast majority of the plants in the garden have died back (or at least stopped flowering) now that we've reached late autumn, but a few have carried on blooming. Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is one of them, its snowy white flowers still sprinkled across the lawn in places where the lawn mower hasn't reached, or where they've re-grown since the mower passed. The narrow feathery leaves and small, white blooms of these perennials started popping up in May, so some of them have had quite a long growing season.

Common Yarrow is abundant in the UK and native across Eurasia, from the British Isles to China. It has also been introduced to North America and Australia. It's the host for the rare parasitic plant Purple Broomrape, an important larval food plant for a host of moth species, and its pollen and nectar attract a variety of beetles, wasps and true bugs, so we're happy to have the plant around. It's quite aromatic, and European Starlings use it to line their nests; studies have shown that it inhibits the growth of nest parasites. The plant has also long been used by humans. Its genus name, Achillea, is a nod to the Greek hero Achilles, who reputedly carried Common Yarrow into battle to treat wounds; it was used as an astringent and tonic, and helped to staunch the flow of blood from injuries — hence some of its other folk names, including soldier's woundwort, staunchweed, and nosebleed plant.