One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Tupelo you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant fennel by checking out 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 do ok in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Tupelo 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 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Tupelo. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tupelo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Tupelo last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tupelo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Tupelo

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