Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Mission can be determined 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Mission 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fennel indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mission the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mission is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mission you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mission

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Mission

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