Close-up of Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd—clusters of small white flowers with yellow centers and green stems glowing in sunlight. Densely packed blooms create a delicate, lively appearance, like nature's border-box effect.
Close-up of Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd—clusters of small white flowers with yellow centers and green stems glowing in sunlight. Densely packed blooms create a delicate, lively appearance, like nature's border-box effect.Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd features clusters of small white flowers in the foreground, with blurred pink, purple, and blue blooms plus green foliage and a greenhouse in the distance.Clusters of small, white Achillea Ballerina flowers with yellow centers from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd stand out among green leaves, while a bright pink and yellow bloom glows in the sunlit background.Close-up of Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd—small white wildflowers with yellow centers, nestled among green leaves and grass, create a vibrant natural background with seamlessly blended petals.Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd features small white blooms with yellow centers, clustered among green grass and leaves, their shapes echoing the curves of a border-radius frame in the softly blurred background.Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd features small white blooms with yellow centers and slender green leaves, creating a charming cluster that stands out against lush foliage.Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd: A close-up shows its small white flowers with yellow centers amid lush greenery, with a softly blurred garden and house in the background.Close-up of Achillea Ballerina by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd, featuring clusters of small white daisies with yellow centers amid green leaves and a softly blurred background.Achillea Ballerina
Perennial Pollinator AGM

Achillea Ballerina

Achillea ptarmica 'Ballerina'

£2.25approx. 250 seeds

Clouds of pure white, double button flowers on self-supporting stems — the hardy perennial alternative to gypsophila and an indispensable filler in the cutting garden.

Sowing months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Height
40–60cm
Spread
45cm
Spacing
45cm
Position
Full sun or partial shade
Soil
Most soils including clay; moisture-retentive preferred
Grow guide
How to grow Achillea Ballerina
Read the full guide →
About this variety

Small double white buttons, ruffled and about the size of a shirt button, carried in clouds above neat dark green foliage from June into early autumn. It gives you the froth that gypsophila gives, from a hardy perennial that comes back every year.

The useful thing about 'Ballerina' is that it is bred from our native sneezewort rather than the common yarrow, so it is a plant of damp meadows at heart. It will grow in the heavier, moisture-retentive ground that makes most yarrows sulk. At 40 to 60cm it stands up on its own and keeps standing after a July downpour, which is more than can be said for a lot of white fillers.

Two honest warnings. It spreads by underground rhizome and will keep going if you let it, so lift and divide every third spring or give it room where a bit of travel does not matter. And a single plant looks like nothing at all. Five or seven together give you the cloud; one gives you a few white specks. It cuts well and dries better.

Plant alongside

Achillea Ballerina pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics

Achillea Cerise Queen
Achillea Cerise Queen
£2.30
Cornflower Snowman
Cornflower Snowman
£2.30
Rose Campion
Rose Campion
£2.10

RHS Plants for Pollinators

This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →

RHS Award of Garden Merit

The RHS Award of Garden Merit is given to plants of outstanding excellence for ordinary garden use. To earn this award a plant must be of good constitution, available to the gardening public, and perform reliably across a range of UK growing conditions. It is one of the most trusted plant recommendations in British gardening and a genuine mark of quality.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →