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

The USDA zone info for Ashland should be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant fennel.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

Frost tolerance for fennel:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Fennel can survive in quite a bit of 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 Ashland 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ashland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ashland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ashland you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ashland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ashland

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