The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Worcester it's a good idea to figure out when you can 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 quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Worcester 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. Any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Worcester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Worcester is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Worcester last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your fennel if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Worcester

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 Worcester

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