Does anyone know a source for this plant? I could not find it last year and this year either. It is a pretty perennial and also a source for swallowtail butterfly to lay eggs.
Bronze fennel
J.L. Hudson, Seedsman, and www.selectseeds.com
Both of these are on the Garden Watchdog Top 30.
I love Select Seeds. I bought my bronze fennel seeds from Richter's and regretted it.
Thank you for the link........I'll check them out.
just another tidbit about this plant...I planted some about 5 years ago and it's been happily growing ever since...very hearty, even here in the blasting Arizona sun!
O.k., I'm baited. Does it require much water in Az?
Bugme, I have bronze fennel that has been in the ground for 3 years. It's perennial here, but gets eaten to the ground every year by the black swallowtail caterpillars. I have given up actually trying to use it. I just plant more for the butterflies. Oh, and they eat the parsley to the ground, too. BTW, the fennel always recovers...eventually.
The swallowtails are the reason I want it and you're right, it always recovers.
I bought two bronze fennels three years ago and have been innundated with bronze fennel ever since! The master clump grows to over 6' high and draws wasps like crazy. In my yard, bronze fennel is invasive. But the seeds are delicious.
Yankee, send the extras down this way! I think the heat keeps it in check. That, plus the fact that I tend to mulch lots to keep the water bills down a bit.
I have seeds from two seasons ago. Do you want to try and see if they will grow?
I'd love to. Check your d-mail. Thanks!