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Bonnie Plants Bronze Leaf Fennel has beautiful reddish-bronze, fern-like leaves and a sweet anise flavor. Perfect in salads, coleslaw, and flavored butters. The flowers are edible and can be used for garnishing fish, beef, tomato, and potato dishes. If your main reason for growing this plant is for the leaves, though, remove blooms to prevent it from going to seed. Seeds can be used to freshen breath, and are an ingredient in some “natural” toothpastes.
Type Tender perennial in zones 6 to 10, but usually grown as an annual
Planting time After last spring frost
Features Beautiful leaves with the flavor of sweet anise
Light Full sun
Soil Prefers well-drained soil or potting mix
Spacing 4 to 6 inches apart
Plant size 24 to 36 inches tall
Garden use Containers, herb garden
Culinary use Salads, dressings, coleslaw, flavored butters
Fennel is a beautiful herb to have in the garden. Feathery and fern-like, it adds both color and texture to your plantings. It also boasts a strong, licorice-like flavor. Fennel is a tender perennial, which means the plant may make it through the winter in warm areas, but is sensitive to cold. Most gardeners grow fennel as an annual.
Quick Guide to Growing Fennel
Plant fennel in spring after the last frost. It’s a great option for growing in raised garden beds, containers, and in-ground gardens.
Space fennel plants 4 to 12 inches apart, depending on the variety. Grow them in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sun and has fertile, well-drained soil.
For best results, improve your native soil by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
Promote excellent leaf production by regularly feeding with a water-soluble plant food.
Keep soil consistently moist and water when the top inch of soil becomes dry.
Harvest fennel leaves anytime, but avoid trimming more than one-third of the plant at once.
Uses
Leaves and seeds have a sweet anise flavor, somewhat like licorice. Use leaves in salads, coleslaw, soups, and stews. Bulbs can be sliced for use in salads and side dishes, or roasted to mellow the strong flavor. Fennel flowers are edible, and make wonderful garnishes for fish, meat, potato, and tomato dishes. Fennel stems also look wonderful in fresh bouquets.
