One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant fennel is to consult the USDA zone info for Mountain Home.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

Frost tolerance for fennel:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant fennel a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Mountain Home is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fennel may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mountain Home. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mountain Home and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mountain Home you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mountain Home

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mountain Home

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountain Home.