Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-313
Fennel Bulb
Foeniculum vulgare var azoricum
Fennel is one of the most complete plants around - every part is edible, from the aniseed-flavored leaves and swelling bulb base to the digestive seed and parsnip-like root - and its umbrella-shaped flower heads are a magnet for hoverflies, lacewings and parasitic wasps, the predators that keep garden pests down. It runs on two different calendars depending on what you want from it: sown late in the season it stays vegetative and swells a bulb before bolting, while a spring sowing bolts to flower and seed quickly, which is exactly the point if seed or a flowering insectary clump is the goal. It is also mildly allelopathic - it inhibits beans, tomatoes and kohlrabi growing nearby, and cross-pollinates badly with dill - so it wants a bed of its own rather than a spot in the vegetable garden, though left to self-sow freely it becomes a standing insectary and butterfly host for free.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5.5–8.5
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 4–6 ft
- Mature spread
- 1.5–3.2 ft
- Plant spacing
- 6–12 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
Herbaceous · USDA 3–11
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
Angelica
Angelica archangelica
Angelica is a very large, short-lived umbellifer grown for its candied stem and aromatic root - the thick young stalks are peeled and boiled…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–7
The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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