One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant fennel is to refer to the USDA zone info for Waunakee.

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

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Waunakee 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 really do well. If you are starting your fennel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waunakee. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Waunakee is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Waunakee there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your fennel in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waunakee

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 Waunakee

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