Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's possible to plant fennel in Fort Dodge by using 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 quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Fort Dodge 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. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Dodge. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your fennel if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.