Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant fennel by checking out the USDA zone info for Appleton.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

Frost tolerance for fennel:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Fennel tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Appleton 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 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Appleton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Appleton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Appleton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Appleton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Appleton

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