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

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant fennel is to look at the USDA zone info for Penn Yan.

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 tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Penn Yan 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fennel may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Penn Yan. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Penn Yan and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Penn Yan last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Penn Yan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Penn Yan

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Penn Yan.