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 Vista can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Since fennel are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Vista 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Vista. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Vista may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Vista it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vista

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Vista

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