When to Plant Fennel in Clive, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 can figure out when it's the best time to plant fennel in Clive by checking out 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant fennel
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant fennel
Probably not a good time to plant fennel

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Clive is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clive. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Clive may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Clive it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clive

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Clive

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