Achillea tomentosa Aurea Maynards Gold

The Achillea tomentosa Aurea (also known as Maynard's Gold) is a selection of woolly yarrow, more compact than the typical variety, with shorter flower stems. It is a small evergreen perennial with delicate foliage, forming a dense, fluffy, silvery-grey-green carpet that is as soft to the touch as pleasing to the eye. In late spring or early summer, depending on the climate, this plant comes to life with golden-yellow umbels. Drought-tolerant and hardy, this yarrow is perfect for rock gardens, edging pathways or borders, between paving stones, or to cover dry and less trafficked areas of the garden. Provide it with well-drained, poor, rocky, or sandy soil. 

The Maynard's Gold woolly yarrow belongs, like all yarrows, to the Aster family. Its wild ancestor is native to the mountains of southwestern Europe. In the wild, this plant is found in dry areas (meadows, thickets, and forest clearings) or more humid areas on sandy or rocky soils up to 2000 m (6562ft) above sea level. The Aurea woolly yarrow is a perennial that suckers and layers slowly, forming a compact 4-5 cm (2in) carpet that can withstand moderate foot traffic. The foliage dries up and disappears in summer if it gets too dry, and the plant goes dormant until the rains return. With occasional summer watering, a lush carpet of vegetation can thrive year-round. The finely cut foliage, green in winter, is then covered with abundant white hair. This thick wool gives the leaves a remarkable silvery-grey colour in late spring and summer. Flowering is more or less springtime, depending on the climate; in areas with warmer weather, the flowering period extends from April to May; in harsher climates, it flowers between June and early September. From the carpet of leaves emerge 20 cm (8in) tall flower stems that produce compact, rounded flower heads in 5-6 cm (2in) umbels, bearing many tiny bright yellow flowers. 

Perfectly hardy, this Maynard's Gold woolly yarrow is sensitive to heavy, poorly drained, moist soils in winter. The plant naturally attracts aphids to the point that it is used in organic gardening to prevent or deter attacks on other plants. Undemanding, it adapts to well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Under these conditions, it is an excellent plant for ground cover, greening slopes or dry areas of the garden. It can be combined with other plants that can be used as an alternative to lawns, as its leaves produce chemicals that inhibit the germination and growth of weeds.