One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 it's the best time to plant fennel is to consult the USDA zone info for Sebastopol.

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 earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Sebastopol 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. 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

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Sebastopol. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sebastopol is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Sebastopol last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sebastopol

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 Sebastopol

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