One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 New Iberia can be reffered to in order 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.

Since fennel are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in New Iberia is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fennel may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your fennel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in New Iberia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New Iberia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in New Iberia you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Iberia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in New Iberia

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Iberia.