Looks and Personality

It is one of those flavors that people either love or hate, but almost everyone agrees that fennel’s feathery foliage, and the colorful caterpillars and butterflies that it attracts, adds much to any garden.
Fennel, an anise-flavored herb native to the Mediterranean, was one of the ancient Saxons’ nine sacred herbs and was listed in many first-century remedies. During the Middle Ages it could witch-proof a house if hung over a doorway at Midsummer. Charlemagne grew it on imperial farms. The Chinese used it to treat scorpion bites. It’s one of the five ingredients in a jar of Chinese Five Spice. Its yellow flowers dyed cloth a mustard color; the foliage created a brown dye.

Fennel was a diet aid in seventeenth century England, employed “to make people lean that are too fat,” and to aid digestion. At the same time, Spaniards brought fennel with them to the New World, where it has naturalized so comfortably that many Californians think it is native.
There are many types of fennel grown in gardens. The three- to five-foot-tall perennial or herb fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) produces flavorful seeds. Sweet fennel (F. vulgare var. dulce) has large stalks that can be cooked or eaten raw. Florence, or vegetable fennel (F. vulgare azoricum), produces a bulb at its base. All have licorice/anise scented foliage that blends well with eggs, fish, figs, citrus, and more
You can plant fennel from seed, but since one or two plants are all you probably want, just pick up perennial plants at a local nursery to intersperse among ornamental plantings. Take a look at the perennial bronze fennel (P. vulgare “Purpureum” or “Rubrum”), whose darker foliage contrasts well in a border, both in color and texture.
I rarely use fennel in the kitchen, although I am intrigued by the idea of using it as a tea or to add flavor to lemonade. I grow fennel for its beautiful blue-green feathery foliage and upright form and for the many colorful caterpillars that devour my plants each year. These creatures are the larval stage of the black swallowtail butterfly. My caterpillars devour every bit of foliage in September, which doesn’t hurt the plant at all, and helps the butterfly. Insecticides wipe out butterflies, taking all the good bugs with the bad, so use chemicals sparingly or not at all.

Fennel’s distinctive tap root helps identify it as a member of the carrot family, along with dill, parsley, and Queen Anne’s lace. The entire family plays host to Black Swallowtails and freely reseeds. Last year I potted a fennel seedling growing in the path, and later moved it to a perennial/shrub border. If you find a new seedling and want to move it, do it while it is young because it will not move easily once it forms its taproot.
Different types of fennel cross-pollinate, and fennel can cross-pollinate with dill, which is OK for the soft texture, but I can’t imagine the flavor. So if you have both fennel and dill, or different types of fennel growing in the same area, the seedlings may not be worth keeping.
Several sources say fennel should not be grown near tomatoes and beans, although none gave a reason for this. To limit reseeding, deadhead spent flowers before they set seed (unless you plan on harvesting the flavorful seeds for your kitchen). The blooms attract parasitic wasps and other good bugs, so don’t cut off the flowers too quickly.
So whether you grow it for beauty, butterflies, history, flavor, or all that fennel has to offer, this is one herb worth adding to your garden.

Calling all butterflies

Butterflies are fussy.
With a world of plants before them, each butterfly species chooses a favorite and depends on it to live and reproduce. The monarch caterpillar uses butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and other milkweed plants as a host plant. So does the Queen butterfly caterpillar. Others prefer grasses, clover, sunflowers, or certain trees. Once monarchs emerge as butterflies they are attracted to certain flowers for nectar. Pentas, lantana, and butterfly bush (Buddlia) are useful nectar sources, as are asters, marigolds, gaillardia, cosmos, and zinnias.
Butterflies also need a shallow pool of water in a sunny spot. This is not easy to provide. Standing water attracts mosquitoes, and shallow water dries quickly in our summer heat. If you have a water feature or pond, place a rock just below water surface to give butterflies a spot to wade. They seem to need the minerals coming off the rock as much as the water.
Invest in a book or find a website about butterflies to help you identify both the caterpillar and butterfly stages, as well as to advise you on which plants they use in each stage. A few key plants added to your garden will ensure a healthy butterfly population.