One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of determining when you can plant fennel is to look at the USDA zone info for Zachary.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

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

You can plant fennel quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Zachary 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Zachary. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zachary is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zachary last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your fennel if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zachary

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Zachary

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