One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Hays you can estimate when you can plant fennel by looking at 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 pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Hays 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your fennel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Hays. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hays may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Hays you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hays

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hays

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