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.

The best time to plant fennel in Longboat Key should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Longboat Key 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Longboat Key. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Longboat Key is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Longboat Key you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longboat Key

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 Longboat Key

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Longboat Key.