One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant fennel by using the USDA zone info for Morehead City.

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 are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Morehead City 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 really do well. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Morehead City. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Morehead City is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Morehead City last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Morehead City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Morehead City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Morehead City.