Even with all of this cold right now, I should plant parsley, dill and fennel?? Right now??

Please let me know as I am new to NC and I live just south of Asheville in Hendersonville.

Thank you very much for helping me figure out plants here.

Feel free to email me at: lhendri479@aol.com or leave a message here. Do not think I am getting mail from here.

This group of plants is the same group that includes carrots and all of them make a pretty long tap root. Because of this root they hate being transplanted (unless they have been maintained in a large pot, in which case you can plant them anytime. Moving them from one spot in the yard to another is what is difficult.)

Ideally you would have planted seeds in the fall and let them overwinter and come up when the weather is perfect for them (often not perfect for us). We are due some pretty severe low temps this next week so I am gonna hold off til that mess passes before I sow any more - not that the plants seem to care, it is just too cold for me to be out there digging in the dirt.

I believe they like temps below 70 to do their best growing so early spring or late winter is the time to sow - and most of them need sunshine to speed germination so don't bury them in soil. Many people wait too late in the spring to sow this group of plants and the seedlings really struggle with the warm weather we get from June onward. So, get ready now because waiting til May will be too late. Some of these guys are slow to sprout so be patient. I also never sow all the seeds at one time in case we get really bad weather (too wet, or too cold).

Asheville is a bit cooler than Raleigh so you might wait another month, but still, now is the time to prep and plan.

I've been planting parsley & fennel (from nursery plants) in a window box type planter for years just for what I've called the 'butterpillers' - those yellow & green striped guys mentioned above, and for the hoped, eventual butterflies. Couple of years ago, I brought in the box and discovered a couple of stowaway 'pillers' - one cocooned and emerged that next spring - a real butterfly right in my sunroom !

I just found some seed packets of parsley & dill - am checking them for viability now on a wet paper towel, and if they prove out, will get those 'butterpiller' boxes going posthaste.

Thanks for this post !

I have an overwintering chrysalis on an an old fennel stalk in my orchard right now. I check it every couple of weeks to make sure it is still ok. It's always a good idea to leave the all of the carrot family plants mentioned above standing through the winter as you do not want to break the butterfly life cycle. I hope that this chrysalis will be the first swallowtail of the season to grace my garden. As an aside, most of the carrot family herbs are fabulous in the kitchen, think, Dill, Fennel, Anise, Parsley, Cilantro. I always plant extra because the cats have a voracious appetite when they attain a certain size. Theresa.

Thank you for all of the information about what to plant and when to plant it in NC. I was out in the garden today and it wasn't too cold for me. I will hold off until the beginning of March I guess. Do you also go by the night time temperatures for planting dill, etc?

lhendri479,

Hello! I used to live in A'ville and at one point worked in H'ville. Welcome to the area! I now live in Marion, which is east of A'ville. Originally from South Bend, IN.

Check the Winter sowing forum and wintersown.org. Chances are, if it is something that would reseed itself or is hardy, it can be winter sown, which is basically potting it up in minigreenhouses (instructions for making them are in the WS FAQ) and letting Mother Nature do her thing. They will germinate when the time is right and presto, insta-seedlings, you don't have to buy transplants, you basically make your own. Then instead of thinning or digging and hauling or having seedlings where you don't really want them, you plant them where you want pretty much in your own sweet time.

-Tonya