Yarrow, blue(Achillea millefolium)/Bulgaria wild harvest

Images of Achillea millifolium/Yarrow/Milfoil

Yarrow, blue(Achillea millefolium) essential oil/Bulgaria wild harvest
The sky blue oil of Bulgarian Yarrow oil displays a camphoraceous, somewhat punguent herbaceous top-note that quickly mellows into a fresh, soft, sweet herbaceous bouquet.
The duration of this fresh herbaceous heart-note is good, lasting well over an hour.

Blends well with anise seed eo and co2; arnica eo and abs; Artemisia oils; basil eo's, co2's and abs; birch, sweet eo; cedarleaf eo; cedar oils and abs; chamomile(english, blue and morocco) eo's; cypress eo and abs; currant, black abs; davana eo, co2 and abs; eucalyptus eo's and abs; fennel eo and co2; fenugreek eo and co2; fir oils and abs; geranium eo and abs; hyssop eo and co2; juniperberry eo, co2 and abs; laurel leaf eo and abs; lavindin eo and abs; lavender eo, co2 and abs; lovage root and leaf eo and co2; marjoram eo; mate abs; myrtle eo; opoponax eo and abs; oregano eo and co2; palmarosa eo; peppermint eo, co2 and abs; pennyroyal eo; petitgrain oils(bergamot, lemon, mandarin); pine oils and abs; rosemary eo, co2 and abs; sage eo and co2; sage clary eo and abs; tagetes eo and abs; Tansy,blue eo; wintergreen eo

In perfumery finds use in herbal bouquets, sacred perfumes, apothecary blends, incense bouqets, mythological perfumes

Interesting facts about Yarrow/Milfoil/Achillea millifolium
1. The Latin name for yarrow is Achillea millefolium and is a tribute to one of the oldest legends surrounding this well-known plant. Achillea refers to the Greek hero Achilles who used the plant to heal his soldiers during the Trojan War. It is said that he learned the herb lore surrounding yarrow from his tutor Chiron the centaur.
2. Yarrow pollen has been found in Neanderthal burial areas
3. The stalks of yarrow are dried and used as a randomising agent in I Ching divination.
4. Yarrow is considered an especially useful companion plant, not only repelling some bad insects while attracting good, predatory ones, but also improving soil quality[citation needed]. It attracts predatory wasps, which drink the nectar and then use insect pests as food for their larvae. Similarly, it attracts ladybugs and hoverflies. Its leaves are thought to be good fertilizer, and a beneficial additive for compost.


Milfoil/Yarrow in Literature


That day was composed of dawn, from one end to the other. All nature seemed to be having a holiday, and to be laughing. The flower-beds of Saint-Cloud perfumed the air; the breath of the Seine rustled the leaves vaguely; the branches gesticulated in the wind, bees pillaged the jasmines; a whole bohemia of butterflies swooped down upon the yarrow, the clover, and the sterile oats; in the august park of the King of France there was a pack of vagabonds, the birds.
Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo

The river was very beautiful; it ran between banks of willows and alders where loosestrife and meadowsweet and willow-herb and yarrow grew tall and thick. There were water-lilies in shady back-waters, and beautiful gardens sloping down to the water.
Harding's luck, by E. [Edith] Nesbit

Through this delightful wilderness, Canon Creek roves without any
constraining channel, throbbing and wavering; now in sunshine, now in
thoughtful shade; falling, swirling, flashing from side to side in
weariless exuberance of energy. A glorious milky way of cascades is thus
developed, of which Bower Cascade, though one of the smallest, is
perhaps the most beautiful of them all. It is situated in the lower
region of the pass, just where the sunshine begins to mellow between the
cold and warm climates. Here the glad creek, grown strong with tribute
gathered from many a snowy fountain on the heights, sings richer
strains, and becomes more human and lovable at every step. Now you may
by its side find the rose and homely yarrow, and small meadows full of
bees and clover. At the head of a low-browed rock, luxuriant dogwood
bushes and willows arch over from bank to bank, embowering the stream
with their leafy branches; and drooping plumes, kept in motion by the
current, fringe the brow of the cascade in front. From this leafy covert
the stream leaps out into the light in a fluted curve thick sown with
sparkling crystals, and falls into a pool filled with brown boulders,
out of which it creeps gray with foam-bells and disappears in a tangle
of verdure like that from which it came.
The Mountains of California, by John Muir

A little girl on the ferry sitting with her mother takes from her small prim bag a set of doll clothes, and fondles them and smoothes them much like a pullet with her first chickens. The sight of those square, little, gingham dresses, trimmed with scraps of lace and silk and with awkward sleeves standing straight out, brought to me, on that Oakland ferry, all my childhood again, and I was cuddled close between the surface roots of a great elm and from the nearby lane came the sight and scent of Bouncing Bet, Joe Pye Weed, Tansy, Yarrow, Golden Rod, Boneset, and over in the meadow the sight of cows and the smell of peppermint and water cress, beside a little stream.
Vignettes of San Francisco, by Almira Bailey


'Mother would send us out into the local pastures to gather stalks and flowerheads of yarrow. These would be wrapped in newspaper, tied with string, and put outside (under cover) to dry thoroughly. Then in the winter days when colds, flu and coughs were threatening, the yarrow would be broken down, put into a jug and infused with boiling water... a noxious brew, but it put paid to them all.'
Halesowen, West Midlands, 1990

Links for Achillea millefolium/Yarrow/Milfoil
The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook:
By James A. Duke
Handbook of medicinal plants
By Zohara Yaniv, Uriel Bachrach
Plants in cosmetics:
By Conseil de l'Europe
The book of herbal wisdom: using plants as medicine
By Matthew Wood