I had a few around the garden for years, then I wanted room for something else, since I have a small garden, I have to make choices, so I yanked them all out. I missed them though and couldn't resist picking up a start at a plant sale last weekend. Now to find a place to squeeze in just ONE. I love the texture, the color, the fragrance, the umbrels and the butterfly attraction. A very easy, no care plant that delivers a lot. I wonder does anyone eat any of it? Use it in a recipe? Do you have to harvest the root, or use the leaves as an herb? Or is this not the culinary plant?

Several years ago I became addicted to fennel pollen when it was served on a salmon dish. I was not familiar with it and asked the chef to show it to me, which he did, about 2 tablespoons full in a tiny box for which he told me he paid $25.00 an ounce wholesale. One look was enough and I knew growing my own would be easy as I already had fennel plants in my flower garden. The foliage is useful in bouquets or as a seasoning for fish and salads. So, find a spot for a few fennel plants in your garden. They are perennial with attractive foliage and easy to grow. Toward mid-summer begin watching for the very first sign of flowering. It will be an umbrel with very tiny unopened buds on the ends of the umbrel 'spokes'. You want to remove this umbrel on the day that it breaks out of its surrounding sheath. You will figure this out when you see it happening. Now, the trick is to remove the tiny, pollen buds from the umbrel for drying. After trial and error I found that the pollen sacs should be removed while they are fresh and combing carefully through the umbrel with a very fine-toothed comb over a paper towel worked best. Then the paper towel is placed in an uncovered box and the pollen buds allowed to dry for future use or they can be used fresh.

Yes..it tastes just like other forms of fennel. If you have any kind of fennel growing in your garden you just take the blooms and shake them upside down over a cookie sheet and let the golden pollen which falls off dry in the sun. I would just sub a pinch of ground fennel seed if a recipe called for it.

"Bulb" fennel isn't a true bulb. There is no underground storage organ. The "bulb" is simply expanded stems ABOVE ground. If you don't see any "bulbs" now, you won't when you dig them up. Also, fyi, fennel is a fairly-hardy perennial. I grew it in Northern Wisconsin and it over-wintered most years. In other words, don't dig it up. Let it go through the winter and see if it will come back for you. As for using fennel seed in recipes, it goes WAY beyond Indian food and mixed spices. It's a key ingredient in many Italian dishes (as is), breads of all kinds, soups, sausage, seafood dishes, pork (yummmm), roasted veggies (esp. potatoes) and so much more. Homegrown fennel seed -- it doesn't get any better. Of course, now linda and lee want to throw big fennel bulbs at me. Joe