There are two main types of fennel, herb and vegetable. Florence fennel is an annual vegetable bulb that is similar in texture to celery but has an anise flavor. Sweet fennel is a perennial herb that is used to flavor food dishes with its dried seeds. It has licoricey-smelling feathery leaves and gets up to 6 feet tall. It has small yellow flowers that become anise flavored seeds. You can eat the stems, leaves and seeds, but mostly the dried seeds are what is sold in the herb section of the grocery store and are used whole or ground. You can let the seeds dry on the plant and then harvest them easily as they fall off the plants with just a gentle tug.
There are pros and cons for growing the herb. On cons side, this is a very prolific and invasive plant. The seeds drop to the ground throughout the growing season, and if you are not careful this herb will take over your garden and beds. On the pro side, the butterflies and bees love this plant.
I get great joy out of patiently watching the chrysalis’s in my yard, always hoping that I will see a Swallowtail butterfly emerging. So far, I have only witnessed the birth live once. It makes the constant pruning and thinning of the sweet fennel plants from my yard worth it.
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