Paprika’ is a vigorous growing Achillea with flowers that keep coming all summer long in shades of ruby red fading to salmon rose, with a yellow eye and attractive deep green Fern-like foliage. This easy-to-grow Yarrow is irresistible to butterflies and drought tolerant once established. An excellent or dried flower.
Yarrows are valuable garden plants from the North Zone that are widely grown for the masses of flowers they throughout much of the summer. Their flattened flower heads introduce a fresh shape into the perennial border. Yarrows in full sun and well-drained soil. They bloom from June to September.
Achillea millefolium, commonly called common yarrow, is a rhizomatous, spreading, upright to mat-forming perennial that is considered by many to be an weed. Common yarrow was originally introduced to in colonial times, and has since naturalized throughout the primarily along roadsides, fields, waste areas and lawns. These species plants are noted for producing deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic, medium green foliage and tiny, long-lasting, white flowers that appear in dense, flattened, compound corymbs (to 2-4” across) throughout the summer on stems typically rising 2-3’ tall. Foliage has a strong, somewhat spicy aroma that persists when used in dried arrangements. Species plants are uncommonly sold in commerce, however. It is the cultivars and hybrids of common yarrow, most of which have stronger stems, more upright habits and larger flowers, that have become popular flowering plants for ornamental gardens. Cultivars also extend the range of flower colors to include pinks, reds, creams, yellows and bicolor pastels.
The genus name Achillea refers to Achilles, hero of the Trojan , who used the plant to stop bleeding and to heal the wounds.
The specific epithet millefolium means “thousand-leaved” in reference to the highly dissected foliage.
Common yarrow has a large number of additional common names, including milfoil, thousandleaf, woundwort, bloodwort, sanguinary and stenchgrass.
‘Paprika’ is a spreading, mat-forming common yarrow cultivar which is noted for its deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic, medium green foliage and its tiny, long-lasting, red flowers with yellow centers which appear in dense, flattened, compound corymbs (to 2-3″ across) throughout the summer on stems typically rising 1.5-2′ tall. Initial flower color fades, sometimes rather quickly, to light pink, creamy yellow and brown. Foliage has a strong, somewhat spicy aroma which persists when used in dried arrangements. Although many authorities list ‘Paprika’ as one of the Galaxy Hybrids (A. millefolium x A. ‘Taygetea’), The Royal Horticultural Society Index of Garden Plants and the Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants both consider it to be a cultivar of A. millefolium. Achillea millefolium and its cultivars have a more spreading habit than some of the taller, clump-forming yarrows.
