One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 determine when it's the best time to plant fennel by looking at the USDA zone info for Papillion.

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 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 Papillion 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. 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 April 15 in Papillion. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Papillion is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Papillion you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Papillion

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 Papillion

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