The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Dover you can determine when it's the best time to plant fennel by referring to 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 well in cold which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Dover 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 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

In Dover the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Dover is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dover last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your fennel if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

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 Dover

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