If you have had the pleasure of visiting the Master Gardener’s Demonstration Garden at Betts Park lately you would have noticed a bronze, feathery plant with a smokey hue. This is called the Bronze Fennel (foeniculum vulgare).
Bronze Fennel
About
This medium height Mediterranean herb grows attractively on the border of the garden. It is particularly attractive to the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly and its caterpillars.
Gardener Tips for Planting Bronze Fennel
Bronze Fennel likes full sun and should be thoroughly soaked after planting and then also given a good soak once a week during the hot summer months unless accompanied by plenty of rain. Once it is well-established it can tolerate dry conditions. If you fertilize, do so gently, it should not be pushed to grow. If you do not want a large crop of Bronze Fennel, deadhead the spent flowers.
Bronze Fennel is hardy from zone five and can be grown as an annual in lower zones.
Cooking with Bronze Fennel
Common green fennel can be replaced in any dishes requiring fennel with the Bronze Fennel. The seeds of this plant can be collected and often used n making Italian sausage.
Written By: Penn State Extension Master Gardener Freda Pyles
