I want to try growing fennel this year, for my BST's, to give them another choice when my parsley and dill get chewed down by the cats (like this past year, way too early!). I've never grown it, can anyone tell me the best variety, and can I start it indoors in pots and transplant it when our weather gets warmer? I think I read that it has a long tap root, which would make it iffy to transplant? I'm anxious to get it started.....
Fennel, best variety for BST's?
I tried fennel last year and the bronze worked best, but didn't hold up to our TX heat. I will stick to parsley.
The bronze fennel is great. It does well in southeast Alabama.
This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 6:18 PM
I have both bronze and green fennel. The green fennel gets much larger. It does go to seed in the summer, but will survive and green up more in the fall.
I've transplanted Fennel from a pot, ground to pot or ground would be iffier. The cats and I like the Bronze Fennel. I like the gorgeous color and they like the food. I've read it can grow 4-5 feet tall but as a biennial, I wouldn't expect that the first season. Fennels I bought in starter packs last year are nice and big this year. I had a particular patch which was the "Swallowtail" garden. The fennel did well for a while and all of a suddenly just wilted. The consensus was wilt d/t nematodes. I'm not planting fennel in that area this year.
Maggie
I don't have any green fennel but will give it a try if I find some this year.
Any particular type of parsley better than another? I have seeds for plain/single parsley.
My experience has been they like any parsley just fine.
I have had both and they will lay eggs on either.
Greetings --
Great question, nanny_58 -- I'd been wondering the samething about parsley.
As for the fennel question, Bronze Fennel has worked really well for me, even though I'm not all that crazy about the color. What I like is that even though it's a tender perennial hardy to z7, it usually overwinters for me here in z5.
BTW, I got my seeds from Johnny's.
Liane
I've several Fennels planted in the garden in years past. Including 'Florence' Fennel, bronze and plan green one. I too noticed the cats. preferred the regular parsley over the curly parsleys before they find their way to the fennels. Both Parsleys and Fennels are up and sprouting in my garden this early in the year.
I have parsley, and have dill seed coming...I guess I need to get some Fennel too maybe....
LianeNY, thank you so much for making me 2 years younger. You are my new BF!!! LOL
Ooops. Oh well, what are a few years between friends? LOL!
Lily_love --
I'll have both plain and curly parsley in the garden this year, so I'll find out if the butterflies up here in the cold north have the same opinions as yours in AL.
It's still going to be a while before anything will be sprouting in the garden here...boohoo....
Liane
I think different butterflies have different preferences. A BST comes by and all it will lay eggs on is green fennel. Another one likes parsley. A third one prefers bronze fennel. A friend of mine grows Florence Fennel (bulb fennel). She had cats on that...moved them to a different fennel because she didn't want the bulb fennel chewed up.
Has anybody planted rue for the BFs? I put some in a pot on my fence last year
(it supposedly can cause stomach upset so I didn't want my kitty to eat any); I had
5 GST cats on it, but they only lasted about 1wk before I think the birds got them
(they all disappeared seemingly at once).
What the heck is rue anyway??? I am a bit dense about these things!
This is Rue. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/312/ It is supposed to attract the same swallowtails that like parsley and fennel. I did not have any luck last year but that's fine given that I only had 2 little plants.
Maggie
Thanks...will have to think about that one.
It seems to be pretty picky as to where it is planted or just a tempermental plant for me. I have been given or bought about 10 plants over the last two years and only three are still thriving. But I keep trying because it is one of the host plants for the Giant Swallowtail.
Sheila - It's one of those ways that gardening can make you nuts - I put a rue plant in a cheapo planter & hung it on the
fence - have ignored it since last fall - & the durn thing is still alive! Other stuff I baby & baby, & it dies anyway.
Go figure.
I think most of them didn't like our TX heat. Citrus trees are also a host plant for the GSTs so I am trying to go that direction next.
I just have so much to learn... should I let the parsley and dill bolt and go to seed or try to keep them from doing that until the end of the season?
I let mine go to seed because I have seen too many eggs laid on the seed heads and I am afraid to pinch and toss them.
ahhh...thanks...I am so anxious for it to warm up & get things growing!!
Another reason to let them go to seed is that the flowers are very popular with little bugs -- and after all, hummingbirds eat lots of little insects...
Liane
I have some rue just for the butterflies and the looks. I didn't have any takers last year, even though I had giant swallowtails. Maybe they'll find it this year.
Nanny, I'd send you some Rue seed, but it got dumped all over the patio last year! LOL (good thing you know my seed saga!). So if any come up, I'll ship the seedlings off to you.
you can sort of see it just past the zinnias but before the sedum.
I see it...if not there is always next year to add it. AT least you still have the important stuf!! LOL
and you are such a sweetie to share.:0)
MUST HAVE MORE BUTTERFLIES! lol.
It's an addiction that I'm glad to share.
I might have some bronze fennel come up this year, we'll have to see.
Nice little patch of butterfly heaven Mrs_Ed!!
Yah, "little" is right Shelia. It's expanding this year thought!!
All of my flower beds are so sparce right now. I know that they will grow in with time, but I don't want to over crowd with something that over take the other plants. I am still learning each year what will and won't play nice!
Well that sounds like a good plan! I really love having the raised beds. It's a necessity because I have two dogs, but has other benefits. I put an iris bed in this fall that is only mounded, not raised. We'll see how they do with that this year.
I've got all three kinds Mrs_Ed; mounded, raised and ground level. My dogs walk into the ground level to choose their spot, hike a leg at the edge of the mounds and mark spots on the rims of the raised beds. At least the upper portions of the mounds and raised areas don't get the extra nitrogen.
Last year I planted two kinds of parsley, curly leaf and plain. BST cats were all over the curly but the plain had very few. I think it had more to do with location than preference. The curly leaf was in a flower bed. The plain was in a pot among Judy's other herbs; basil, chives and oregano (also in pots).
I'll put in more plants for them this year and will probably include fennel. Last year the cats ate the parsley down to the stems and there was nothing left for them to eat. I counted a dozen cats at one time on the curly parsley last year.
Gary
I had all mine on the Dill in the early season, then the curly parsley in the late season. Never had any on the queen anne's lace or the bronze fennel.
I have a 1/2 whiskey barrel (that was a failed water garden last year). I was gonna
just toss it at the recycle center, but then I think I'm gonna try to use it as a raised
veggie bed (for BFs), next to my small BF garden. I think it was groundhogs
that kept chewing the dill & fennel down to the nub last summer; I know the bar-
rel isn't real high, but hopefully it'll be a bit of a deterrent. At any rate, it oughta
look pretty cool.