Fennel

[chuffa]

Has anyone grown Fennel for the bulbs and seed. I use a lot of fennel seed in my curries and would like to know how hard/easy they are to grow.

[Tam]

I bought a bronze-leaf fennel a couple of years ago and stuck it in one of the borders for decoration. It has been perfectly happy and looks great. I have a very heavy clay soil and even after thirty years of adding sand and loads of compost - as well as mulching heavily with shredded prunings - it is still hard work digging.

[Novice Gardener]

I've just sown some "finocchio mantovano" I've never grown it before, but I'm hoping to use both the bulbs and save some seeds for cooking too. I'll keep you posted

[joey]

I've just sown some fennel and hopefully they will grow so I can eat them.

[JennieAtkinson]

Ive sown some too for the first time this year and potted the small seedlings on today. I thought the flower heads looked great. I hadn't thought about any produce!

[Two_Sheds]

There's Garden Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and there's Florence Fennel (Foeniculum dulce)
BBC - Gardening - Plants - Plant Finder - Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum'

It hates being transplanted, else I would send you some - my bronze fennel has self-seeded all over the allotment. It's a b*gger to dig out... big long taproot.

[Snadger]

There's Garden Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and there's Florence Fennel (Foeniculum dulce)
BBC - Gardening - Plants - Plant Finder - Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum'

It hates being transplanted, else I would send you some - my bronze fennel has self-seeded all over the allotment. It's a b*gger to dig out... big long taproot.

I agree TS! Two completely different animals! Florence is the bulb type which I grew successfully last year and my bronze fennel has also self seeded all over the place!
Dill is the annual herb usually grown for it's aniseed tasting foliage but all of the plants are umbeliferous and as far as I know the seed can be eaten off them all?
I like to chew the seeds for there aniseed taste. The Romans were purported to have used them to freshen their breath as well, so iIm in good company!

[Glasshousevirgin]

have also put out some florence fennel out this week after nurturing months indoors (I know probably too early) and was careful to avoid disturbing roots. They were in a 4 inch pot for only about a month as they took off fast in greenhouse.
Also have some more seeds come up in greenhouse which will plant on when well established and later try some seeds direct if room. Not sure which variety as got seeds in France and no name supplied on pack.
The other variety of fennel from last year has self seeded everywhere as others noted.

[sewer rat]

Fennel seeds come from the common Fennel as opposed to Florence Fennel. I have recently transplanted a large plant I took from my garden, and it has started to grow away recently - split it into two at the same time.
One word of warning - try and keep Fennel and Dill apart - they really do not like each other for some reason !

[chuffa]

Thanks for to info folks, thats a great help.