What happened to my fennel???

I planted my first fennel this year, and got tons of beautiful fronds that I used in scrambled eggs, poached fish, etc., but I never really got around to the bulb. Yesterday I noticed the plant had oodles of flowers, so I decided to pull it. I was surprised to find that there was NO BULB!!! Any idea what happened? Also, do the flowers turn to seed? If not, where do you find it?

Perhaps you have bronze fennel: http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/285/index.html I've grown both the bulb type and the bronze. There may be other Foeniculum vulgare that doesn't bulb up, but I am not familiar with them. The bronze type has a lovely brown hue to the leaves.

Nope - it's called Fennel, Florence - Bulbing But the bronze does sound good! Think I'll add that to next year's "wish list"!

This fennel is very green with white stalks and pretty little yellow flowers. Do you know if these flowers will turn into seeds?

that is a yes they will seed. i've been growing florence for a few yrs now. i just leave a few in the ground to seed for next season. i found that if you want the bulb to get large it needs room. the bulb is not underground but on top. it gets a large root that goes down pretty deep.

Thank you so much, farmgirl! Of course I already pulled it out, so it's too late to leave it in, but I guess I can either toss the flower/seed part back in the dirt, or try to let it go to seed in a bag. I think I'll try a bit of both!

Your explaination regarding the bulb seems 100% on target. My garden area (a major euphemism!) is all rocky and full of trunks/roots/etc. I can't really plant anything "delicate" these, so this year I decided to take my chances with something more hale and hearty - the mighty fennel and mint, and let them have at it! Both did fairly well (if you consider the "no bulb" ok!).

I really appreciate your input!

Florence fennel - F. dulce, struggles to bulb up if there is a check in the growth (such as a period of cold weather after warm during the early growing season), it needs a fairly long, warm season. It can also bolt quickly if summer hasn't been warm all the way through too.