One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Marana should be looked at to determine when to plant fennel.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

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

Fennel are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your fennel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Marana. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marana is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Marana it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your fennel if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marana

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Marana

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Marana.