405 · Preludio F1 Fennel

About this plant

Preludio is a bolt-resistant hybrid that makes stout white bulbs with tender hearts and a sweet, light licorice flavor, delicious raw in a shaved salad or roasted until caramelized. Buy it only if you can plant it straight away in a cool, well-watered spot — this is the tail end of our fennel season, and heat makes it run to seed. If it does bolt, leave it: the yellow umbels are a swallowtail butterfly host.

Planting it at home

When to plant out

Right away. Our low-desert planting window for cool-season plants ends about mid-February.

Where

Cool-season bed, full sun, rich moist soil; plant out the day of purchase

Spacing

6–12 in in-row, 16–18 in between rows (Territorial)

Size

Bulb 3–4 in wide; tops roughly 2 ft (Territorial)

Care

Sun

Full sun; 4–6 hr minimum, partial shade tolerated (Territorial)

Water

Consistent moisture — irregular water triggers bolting and split bulbs

Feed

Light feeding only; too much fertilizer weakens the flavor (general guide).

Pick / harvest

Harvest bulb before the plant bolts — when 3–4 in across

Good to know

Grown from

Seed — sown by FHCG volunteers

Uses

Shaved salads, roasting

Life cycle

Annual

Heirloom or hybrid

Hybrid (F1) — saved seeds won't grow true

Pollinators

Excellent if allowed to bolt — fennel umbels feed bees and hoverflies and the foliage is a larval host for swallowtail butterflies. A bolted plant is not a wasted plant.

Caution

Stunts nearby plants: keep apart from vegetables.

Days to harvest / bloom

75 days from direct seeding; bulbs 3–4 in wide at 12–14 weeks (Territorial)

Heat (our summer)

Low — a cool-season crop that bolts in heat

Color

White bulb, feathery bright-green foliage; yellow umbels if it bolts

Edible

Yes — bulb, stalk, frond and seed all edible.