Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Westfield you can determine when it's a good idea to plant fennel 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 do ok in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Westfield 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. If you wait any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Westfield. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Westfield may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Westfield last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Westfield

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 Westfield

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