Sweet Fennel seed Foeniculum vulgare dulce

LATIN NAME: FOENICULUM VULGARE

COMMON NAME: Sweet Fennel

The sweet fennel gilds the tall, upright herb with the feathery, blue-green, anise-scented leaves and the broad, flat clusters of the tiny, golden-yellow flowers that open through the summer, the whole crown gilded with the bloom, the aromatic seeds following and ripening through the autumn. The plant grows quickly into the airy, statuesque clump, and it stands the cool weather and the light frosts well. It likes the sun, and the deep, moist, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The aromatic seed oils of the sweet fennel hold a long place in the research on the culinary and medicinal herbs of the carrot family, and the vulgare species appears in the studies of the anise-like seed chemistry and the feathery-crown development. The work looks at the digestive remedies, the way the umbels build, and the seed biology. The food scientists value the seeds for the breads and the drinks, and the growers of the aromatic culinary herbs keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the sunny garden, the sweet fennel gilds the summer border with the golden umbels. The seeds serve the breads, the sauces and the drinks for the ages, the leaves season the fish and the salads, and the flowers draw the hoverflies and the bees. It thrives in the deep, moist, well-drained, sunny ground. Tall, anise-scented and golden.

To grow the Sweet Fennel from seed, sow the seeds into the shallow drills of the open ground in the early autumn, then cover them lightly, keep the bed gently moist, and the seedlings spring up within a couple of weeks.

Keep the bed gently watered, and thin the seedlings to the roomy spacing. The gilded umbels come within the season. Stand the young plants in the deep, sunny ground, and the gilded umbels will glow over the summer.

NAME: Florence Fennel

OTHER COMMON NAMES: Sweet Fennel

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Foeniculum Vulgare var. Azoricum

COLOR: Yellow

PLANT SEEDS: Outdoors after frost / Indoors weeks before last frost

BLOOM TIME: Summer
PLANT HEIGHT: 48 – 72"

PLANT SPACING: 15 – 18"

LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun

SOIL & WATER PREFERENCES: Average

OTHER: Fennel has an anise like scent & flavor. It is commonly used to add flavor to salads, sauces, fish, etc. The celery like stalks can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable.