-Baxter County Master Gardeners-
  • About Master Gardeners
    • National Mission Statement
    • UAEX - Univ of AR Extension Service >
      • Baxter County Extension Office
      • The UA Cooperative Extension Service
      • UAEX Master Gardener Program
    • Baxter County Gov't >
      • County Extension Council
      • County Extension Service
    • Our Structure, Rules & Guidelines >
      • 2023 Organization Chart
      • Bylaws
      • Standing Rules
      • Duties, Projects & Events
      • New Member Orientation
      • Continuing Education & Training
      • Member Status
      • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Events & Outreach
    • Calendar of Events
    • Join Us At Our Meeting
    • Radio Program
    • Annual Plant Sale
    • Spring Seminar
    • Farmers Market
    • Fair Horticulture Room
    • Public Education Booths
    • Hatchery Outdoor Adventure
    • Scholarship
  • Garden Projects
    • Fairgrounds Garden
    • Bull Shoals
    • Clysta Willett
    • Cooper Park
    • Fish Hatchery
    • Extension Office
    • Memorial Gardens
    • Library Pollinator Garden
  • Gardening Tips
    • NATIVE PLANTS
    • Seminar 2025
    • Bringing Nature into your Garden >
      • Native Plant Finder (research by Doug Tallamy, PhD)
      • Creating a Landscape With Native Plants
      • Native Drought-Tolerant Plants
      • Well-Behaved Natives
      • Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
      • Invasive Non-Natives
    • Seminar Horticulture Table
    • DIY Projects
    • Miscellaneous Gardening Projects
  • Members Only
    • Enter Your Hours
    • MG Roster
    • Forms
Ozark Green Thumb
BCMG Monthly e-Newsletter
                                                     Signup to receive
 our free monthly e-newsletter, 
   Ozark Green Thumb.  

fennel

6/22/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​The best garden plants are easy to grow and satisfy specific needs; plus, they look good. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is one of the best garden plants because it is attractive, easy to grow and satisfies lots of very specific needs. You can eat it, it is a good weaver plant in the perennial border and it hosts the caterpillars of the eastern black swallowtail.

Fennel is an upright-growing perennial herb of the carrot family growing to 6 feet tall, which produces a number of hollow stems from a deep, taprooted crown. Its leaves are finely dissected to 16 inches long and terminate in threadlike filaments. The most common form, the bronze fennel (variety Purpureum), has maroon/bronze leaves, which give the plant a smoky-like look.  All parts of the plant have a licorice-like scent when crushed.

Florence fennel of the Azoricum Group grows only 3 feet tall and produces a cluster of swollen leaf bases that form a bulb-like swelling at the base of the leaf. This fennel is grown as an annual crop, with the “bulbs” harvested while succulent and sweet. This is eaten as a cooked vegetable and is often found in U.S. markets under its Italian name, finocchio.

Yellow flower clusters in flat-topped umbels to 3 inches across appear in midsummer near the ends of the stems. Individual flowers are tiny and give rise to a single “seed,” which has culinary uses.
Fennel is a Mediterranean plant that is now found naturalized throughout the world, especially in areas such as California, which has a similar climate. Its leaves are used as a flavoring similar to dill weed when cooking fish, and as an ingredient in stuffing recipes. Its seeds are a favorite in Italian cooking.

​In garden design, fennel is an excellent addition to the vegetable garden or the mixed perennial border. Though it can reach considerable height, its deep taproot and finely dissected leaves make it a good neighbor, and other plants can grow next to it without being crowded out. Plants are hardy from zones 5 through 9, making it one of the most cold-hardy members of this genus.
​Fennel is a must-have plant if the aim is to attract butterflies into the garden for it. Along with carrot, dill, parsley and Queen Anne’s lace, fennel is a preferred food plant for the caterpillars of the eastern black swallowtail. The caterpillars are two inches long, with concentric rings of black and yellow. They are voracious feeders and can strip young plants of most of their foliage, but fennel is tough enough — it responds by sending out a fresh supply of leaves.

Fennel requires sunny, well-drained soils but seems to tolerate both alkaline and acidic sites. It has good drought tolerance late in the year, but needs moisture during establishment to ensure the formation of a strong root system. Once established, fennel can be long-lived in the garden. Plants are semi-evergreen and serve as sites for overwintering eggs of the swallowtail butterfly. 

​By: Gerald Klingaman, retired 
Retired Extension Horticulturist - Ornamentals
Extension News - September 16, 2011
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

Picture
​Have a garden question or comment?...
Email us

​Check out our Facebook page

​Website trouble?... 
Email the webmaster
Photo from NatalieMaynor
  • About Master Gardeners
    • National Mission Statement
    • UAEX - Univ of AR Extension Service >
      • Baxter County Extension Office
      • The UA Cooperative Extension Service
      • UAEX Master Gardener Program
    • Baxter County Gov't >
      • County Extension Council
      • County Extension Service
    • Our Structure, Rules & Guidelines >
      • 2023 Organization Chart
      • Bylaws
      • Standing Rules
      • Duties, Projects & Events
      • New Member Orientation
      • Continuing Education & Training
      • Member Status
      • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Events & Outreach
    • Calendar of Events
    • Join Us At Our Meeting
    • Radio Program
    • Annual Plant Sale
    • Spring Seminar
    • Farmers Market
    • Fair Horticulture Room
    • Public Education Booths
    • Hatchery Outdoor Adventure
    • Scholarship
  • Garden Projects
    • Fairgrounds Garden
    • Bull Shoals
    • Clysta Willett
    • Cooper Park
    • Fish Hatchery
    • Extension Office
    • Memorial Gardens
    • Library Pollinator Garden
  • Gardening Tips
    • NATIVE PLANTS
    • Seminar 2025
    • Bringing Nature into your Garden >
      • Native Plant Finder (research by Doug Tallamy, PhD)
      • Creating a Landscape With Native Plants
      • Native Drought-Tolerant Plants
      • Well-Behaved Natives
      • Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
      • Invasive Non-Natives
    • Seminar Horticulture Table
    • DIY Projects
    • Miscellaneous Gardening Projects
  • Members Only
    • Enter Your Hours
    • MG Roster
    • Forms