One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Charleston you can figure out when to plant fennel by using 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 are very cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Charleston is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Charleston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Charleston is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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