Is Yarrow deer resistant?

Bitter aromatic foliage, and it thrives on the kind of neglect that kills other perennials. Poor soil, full sun, no water, no feeding.

Give it good soil and it flops. Yarrow grown well gets tall and soft and falls open from the center after a storm, which is the commonest complaint about it. Poor ground keeps it compact and standing.

It spreads by rhizome and will colonize a bed if the soil suits it. Lift and divide every couple of years to keep it honest. The native species is genuinely weedy in a good site; the named cultivars are better behaved and hold their color rather than fading back toward muddy white.

Do deer eat yarrow?

Seldom. Rutgers rates common yarrow, Achillea millefolium, Seldom Severely Damaged, B, and NC State's line is "Deer and rabbit resistant," with drought, heat, humidity, pollution and salt on the same list. The ferny leaf is bitter and aromatic, which is the defense, and the flat flower heads are what go when anything does. The fernleaf yarrow, taller and stiffer, carries the same rating.

Where it grows

NC State: zones 3a to 9b, 1 to 3 feet, full sun, flowering in summer, and "Plants can spread aggressively by rhizomes and seeds." NC State's advice on the species is the encyclopedia's: "It may be too weedy for flower bed borders and a cultivar is a better choice." The ASPCA lists yarrow as toxic to cats, dogs and horses; NC State adds contact dermatitis from handling, and the callout below carries it.

Protecting yarrow

Nothing from deer. From itself, division every couple of years and poor ground, which keeps it standing.

If it is browsed

It regrows from the rhizomes and flowers on the side shoots; cutting it back after the first flush is standard and a browse does the same job. A yarrow that disappears has been shaded or fed, not eaten.