Has anyone grown Fennel Bulbs?

[luigiwu]

Also knows as 'ANISE' at least in our super markets here... Curious if its easy or not. Hopefully it doesn't attrach aphids like Kale does!

[kayrobbins]

I have grown it and it is easy to grow. It is one of the few things I have grown in Florida that none of our insects seem to care for at all. I wish I liked it better.

[luigiwu]

Great! its delicious sliced thin in salads! And also soups! But yes, has a strong flavor

[KarenO]

Not hard to grow. make sure your seeds are for a "Florence" fennel type, not bronze fennel. Seeds are edible with a strong licorice flavour. flowers really attract pollinators in my area particularily the tiny wasps that are so great to have in a garden. I plant it as much for that reason as to eat it. . foliage also edible. wonderful with prawns, shellfish, fish, in salads etc.
self seeds like dill so control by removing seed heads before they shatter.

I do find my bulbs are smaller and tougher than the store bought in the same way as my celery is greener and tougher but more flavourfull as well. I am sure there is a way to blanch the bulbs so they are paler and more tender but I don't really bother. I grow mine more for the leaves and blooms. If I want a tender fennel bulb for a recipe sometimes it's likely easier to buy a bulb but it's a great plant in the garden. Takes a while from seed but then takes off and gets very tall 5-6 feet so be aware it's not a small plant
Karen O

[salix]

Ditto what Karen said - one of the joys of the garden, that lovely liquorice smell on a hot, still summer's day. Some years I have been able to grow great bulbs, but usually they are smaller (as Karen indicates) - haven't quite figured out whether it's the variety or amount of water/rainfall they get.

[kath]

I grew them once but found the flavor too strong. Can't find the name but it was a bulbing variety- and may have been a 'dwarf' type of Florence, if there is such a thing, but the plants stayed well under 3" and didn't take up much space. Eventually, they were great attractors of beneficials.

kath

[luigiwu]

You guys have given me a lot to think about. I don't really have the room to allot to veggies that might not be edible...

Karen, you said you use all parts of the plant? That's interesting because most cooking recipes tell you to throw away everything and just use the bulb? DO you use the tops of the fennel like you would any other strong-tasting green like dandelion etc...?

[KarenO]

the feathery foliage looks like dill. very nice in salads. chopped like any fresh herb with shrimp, fish etc. it is a large and rather attractive plant. I like it for several reasons. Flowers are large yellow umbrels like dill although it is not related botanically. I have even used them as cut flowers in arrangements. they smell like licorice.
like I said, if I want a tender blanched mild bulb for a recipe, it's cheap to buy one. Honestly, I don't really grow it for the bulbs but for the whole plant and the way it attracts pollinators.
KO

[biscgolf]

If you are planting fennel in the spring make sure you get a bolt resistant variety.

[Tormato]

"Perfection" is the variety said to be foolproof for good bulbs. Somewhere around here, I may have some seed.

[ilex]

Strange, all I've tried have very mild flavour, at least the bulbs. Leaves have more flavour, but not close to wild fennel.

I was even thinking about crossing them with wild ones to get a stronger flavour version.

One thing I like about them is that many are perennial.

[joseph]

Last spring, I planted fennel both from transplants and from seed. The plants that were direct sown grew much better for me than the transplants. YMV.

[JLJ_]

Originally Posted by luigiwu

You guys have given me a lot to think about. I don't really have the room to allot to veggies that might not be edible...

If your space is limited, I'd check out fennel's compatibility with other things you might plan to grow near it. I grow a lot of plants together -- interplanted, seasonal succession, etc., so I monitor reports on what plants have been found to like and dislike one another. Most plants have at least some "friends" -- some have certain types of plants they don't like, but it generally seems that *nothing* likes fennel -- except, maybe, parsley, basil and dill (though it may cross pollinate with dill), and many plants seem to actively hate fennel. Quite a few companion plant lists just recommend keeping it out of a vegetable garden.

If you have a place to put it all by itself, away from most other plants, I have seen reports that it attracts the (beneficial) Syrphid Fly and Tachinid Fly, maybe attracts parasitoid wasps and hoverflies and repels aphids, fleas, snails and slugs. But there may be friendlier plants that are better choices for these purposes.

YMMV, but it might pay for you to look into the issue before introducing it into a small garden.

It's a food plant for the gorgeous green and gold caterpillars of swallowtail butterflies.

[Deborah]

What's YMMV?