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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant fennel in Gaithersburg by using 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.

You can plant fennel much earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Gaithersburg 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 little bit earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Gaithersburg. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gaithersburg is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gaithersburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gaithersburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Gaithersburg

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