One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 common way of estimating when it's possible to plant fennel is to check out the USDA zone info for Bell.

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 Bell 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fennel may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Bell. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bell may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bell there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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