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.

A common way of determining when to plant fennel is to check out the USDA zone info for Manchester.

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 pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Manchester 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your fennel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Manchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Manchester and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manchester there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Manchester

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