One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Darlington can be determined by looking at 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 tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Darlington 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 fully mature. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Darlington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Darlington is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Darlington it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your fennel in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darlington

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 Darlington

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