One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when to plant fennel by looking at the USDA zone info for Walnut Creek.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

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

Fennel do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Walnut Creek 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Walnut Creek. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Walnut Creek is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Walnut Creek there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Walnut Creek

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Walnut Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Walnut Creek.