Fennel and wasps

[Amateurinawe]

Last year I grew fennel at the end of the garden in a large pot. I am quite partial to roasted fennel occasionally but it is a prolific grower. I decided I couldn't and wouldn't eat it all but grow it out to seed so I could keep the seeds for my spice cupboard. As the flowers came out, it was a complete wasp magnet, covering every flower head. They loved it, and it seemed to placate them -they were too busy with the fennel necter. But the side effect was they also hunted down soft bodies insects on my plants, and where previous years been plagued by caterpillars I had none. Luckily the wasps must have been living elsewhere, there are small woods and meadows nearby so luckily for me no nesting anywhere near the house.

I got my fennel seed and more besides. Fennel has sprung up everywhere this year, it is rather a determined plant. But I am definately not going to seed it this year.

[worth1]

Grows wild in Southern California.

[bower]

Fennel is not one of the plants we regularly grow here, but it's certainly true that wasps have their favorites in the garden, and it's worth having them to keep them around.
I find that wasps are the main pollinators of black currants. This is great for me because I planted them at the back of the garden, so when I see a load of wasps getting busy back there I don't need to bother them. i would definitely plan a future garden with currants and wasps in their own undisturbed space, which happened here by accident when I put them at the back.
Bigger problem is that moose came and chowed down the currant bushes last fall, so there's nothing to flower this spring for them (or to fruit for me!) I had a paper wasp by my door this spring that was humming just like a bee and complaining "there's nothing for me". Too true and I haven't seen a paper wasp all summer.

[Amateurinawe]

[mention]Bower[/mention] thanks for that, I shall keep more of an eye out as I have black and red currents too. Luckily only moose we have in UK is chocolate one.

[karstopography]

I love the bulb fennel. I guess here it would have to be a cool season crop. I may try this fall. Any special tips for growing the bulb type?

[Amateurinawe]

It grows from seed very easily. It does need space as it can grow quite large and if you allow it to seed be mindful that these seem to spring up everywhere, although with their wispy leaves are easy to identify and pull.it has a long tap root so will need to be planted in soil or a deep pot. Lots of insects love it, aphids when it is young and wasps when it flowers.

[ponyexpress]

I find oregano to also be a wasp magnet.

[JRinPA]

I have a bronze fennel plant that tagged along with a red rhubarb shovel transplant. I considered pulling it but I'm glad I didn't. I finally saw a swallowtail caterpillar on it last week, a small one. There was a wasp about 18" away on a different stalk, and I was wondering if it would strike the caterpillar, but eventually I lost the starting contest and took my leave.

There are some seeds formed and soft now. I like to just bite them in half. What a flavor. I did a midnight run (make that 9pm, everything is still covid hours) to Giant on Sunday night for fennel seed, because we ran out. I should have just walked out back with a light and snipped. Of course there wasn't any Breyer's Ice Cream growing out back, so...

To save/dry I was planning to just cut the stalk below the flower heads and let those soft seeds dry out in a paper bag. Does that sound about right?

[bower]

[mention]JRinPA[/mention] that's what we would do for dill, and it should work fine for seed you plan to eat.
I dry all kinds of herbs in paper bags. I just harvest into the bag and use a twist tie at the top to close the bag and use the end of that to hang it somewhere. If it's leaf on stalk I bundle the stalk ends with the end of the bag, but umbels of seeds can just lie on top of one another if not too damp or packed down. By hanging it you get air circulation around the bag (nothing sitting on the bottom in a damp lump) and everything dries perfectly like that. And no issues with dust getting on your foodstuffs. Not that my house is ever dusty. Signed, muddy boots.

[Labradors]

I love to grow fennel for the Swallowtail caterpillars, but with all the wasps around they don't survive .

I put out a bird bath in my front garden because there were robins nesting in the clematis. The robins were thankful, but so were the wasps who also came for a drink!

Linda

[JRinPA]

My bronze fennel has expanded its territory, I believe. This year's fennel had a bunch of black swallowtail caterpillars...a bright cardinal came in and pigged out on them after they ate away their top cover. I saw a few yet last week, but haven't seen any cocoons. The weeds really overgrew that area since it started raining here. I went out back tonight and pulled the weeds after dark, some taller than 6ft, and I wanted to harvest the bronze fennel seed before this coming rain. I also wanted to get the weeds pulled so I can uncover the adjacent garden row that had summer squash. I want to get some daikon seed in for this rain, but not weed seeds. So I got all that done after dark and this is the bowl of fennel seed.

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I figure it was about half of the total...flower trusses? I don't know what you call them. But I cut all the ones that looked like mature seed. So I'm hoping to get as much again in week or two.

I love this stuff while fresh and soft. The taste really lingers.

Has anyone here ever made fennel ice cream? Or even heard of it? I eat this, and I think how good it would taste drizzled over vanilla ice cream. We have an old ice cream maker downstairs. I've never used it though. I took a quick web search for fennel seed recipes but didn't find much - most are misdirects for cooking with the stalk or bulb.

Last year I used the dried seed for cooking, mostly venison sausage, but I thought it went pretty quick. There was less of it I suppose. It may be more worthwhile to use it fresh for something like ice cream or candy syrup and just buy bulk dried fennel seed; there is a mennonite store I drive by in autumn that used to sell most bulk seed a decent price. No telling what the prices are this year, with the super inflation, but it really seemed like I had a lot of fennel seed dried and then it was gone after a few sausage mixes. Whereas I had bought a pound of dried fennel seed previously and it lasted quite a while.

[MissS]

[mention]JRinPA[/mention] you won't see their cocoons because black swallowtails make their chrysalis in the ground. So be careful when you are digging your soil.

[Labradors]

Swallowtail caterpillars do NOT make cocoons in the ground, the caterpillar climbs onto stems and make a chrysalis which can be green, yellow or brown to blend in with the twig or stem to which it is attached. Many moths DO make pupae in the ground and they are usually brown.

Linda

[bjbebs]

I let a few parsley and parsnips go to seed each year. Will now have to try growing bronze fennel for the wasps.
The only plant that attracts more bees and wasps here are the many hydrangea paniculata that are scattered around.

[worth1]

Not fennel and not wasps.
There are hundreds of honey bees all over a pecan tree where I'm working at no blossoms just maturing pecans and leaves.
What are they after???

[MissS]

Not fennel and not wasps.
There are hundreds of honey bees all over a pecan tree where I'm working at no blossoms just maturing pecans and leaves.
What are they after???

Sap and honey dew.

[worth1]

Not fennel and not wasps.
There are hundreds of honey bees all over a pecan tree where I'm working at no blossoms just maturing pecans and leaves.
What are they after???

Sap and honey dew.

That's the best I could come up with too.
There is Town lake nearby so it isn't water.

[Tracydr]

I grow extra parsley for the wasps and swallowtails. I’ve been meaning to plant fennel and haven’t gotten around to it but maybe this fall I finally will.

[JRinPA]

I may have lost my bronze fennel plant? It is listed as a "cool" perennial. I wonder if it was frozen out this winter, it was nice a cold in January. I also have mint running rampant and that red rhubarb is sizing up. I'm not sure what time of year I notice the fennel - maybe it is too early yet?

What does the young growth look like in May in PA? Tomatoes are just going in the last couple weeks. It should look like a little fern, right? Anyone have pics of the young shoots?

[pepperhead212]

I doubt that your bronze fennel was killed by the winter you had in your area. It is listed as 4-9 hardiness, and I have a couple herbs that are borderline 7+ hardiness, and I'm at 6b to 7, and they have survived, even one winter down to 7° - the last two were milder. I always take some cuttings, just in case, then about now, they start growing back again. I just gave my rooted cuttings to a friend!