One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant fennel in Mokena 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 very cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Mokena 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 few weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mokena is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mokena there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mokena

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 Mokena

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