Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden 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 making a decision about when to plant fennel is to consult the USDA zone info for Greendale.

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 tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Greendale. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Greendale is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Greendale there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your fennel if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Greendale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Greendale

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