Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ after I brought it home on 6-13-19, #588-1.
Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’
I bought this Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ from Muddy Creek Greenhouse on June 13, 2019 for the south bed. I have been wanting a yellow-flowered Achillea for quite some time, so I was glad to find them at Muddy Creek.
I did some research online about this cultivar and found out it is an introduction of Walters Gardens. Their website says it is part of their Sassy Summer Collection which includes cultivars with yellow, red, pink, and orange flowers. Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ features golden-yellow flowers with more silvery leaves.
Flowers of the Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ on 6-13-19, #588-2.
The Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ features beautiful golden-yellow flowers. Compared to Achillea millefolium flowers, these have a very hard and stiff texture. Pretty neat, huh?
Silvery leaves of the Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ on 6-13-19, #588-3.
The leaves are a beautiful silvery color which is a nice contrast to the golden-yellow flowers.
Typical leaf of the Achillea ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ on 6-23-19, #594-2.
Interestingly, there are a few “reputable” websites that say ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ is an Achillea millefolium. I am not going to mention names, but you can look for yourself. If you know anything about Achillea millefolium, you can clearly see these ARE NOT Achillea millefolium leaves.
Since this is my blog and I want to make sure I get information correct, I contacted Andrew Jager, Marketing Specialist for Walters Gardens. I told him that there were websites that say their cultivar is an Achillea millefolium but the leaves look like Achillea tomentosa. He said,
“In short, it is not a straight A. millefolium cultivar (hence why we do not list it as such on our site). ‘Sassy Summer Silver’ is a complex hybrid with multiple species in the background. One of the parents is A. ‘Moonshine’, the other an unnamed cultivar which is also a complex hybrid. One of the unifying species for the Sassy Summer series is A. sibirica, but I cannot confirm for you whether there is any A. tomentosa.”
So, there you have it straight from the breeder… I did check with Plants of the World Online by Kew, and for the record, they say Achillea sibirica is now a synonym of Achillea alpina. Well, who would know unless you check? Hmmm… I have a research disorder so I always check. 🙂
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Family: Asteraceae
Origin: Cultivar introduced by Walters Gardens
Zones: USDA Zones 3-8
Size: 26-30” tall x 28-34” wide
Light: Full sun
Soil: Does well in average to even poor soil
Water: Low to average water needs. Drought tolerant once established.
As with all Achillea, they like a nice sunny location to perform their best. When planting, make sure to put it where the soil drains well. Plant at the same depth as the soil line in the pot. Achillea species and cultivars are very easy plants to grow and very drought-tolerant once established.
There isn’t much online about this cultivar yet, but I will continue checking so I can provide links for further reading.
I put this plant in the south bed but it did not return in the spring of 2020.
I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. If you notice I made an error, please let me know.
The Belmont Rooster 