One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first chance to plant fennel in Festus can be figured out by looking at 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.

Fennel can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Festus 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. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Festus and it is different every year. Half of the time in Festus it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Festus

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 Festus

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