skip to main content

Herbs - Australia

Fennel or dill?

19 years ago

Hi there, a girlfriend gave me a plant, said it was dill, I have looked for pictures but cant tell the difference, they both seem to have yellow flowers and ferny like leaves, mine is ready to pick I think, hasnt yet flowered but has large white stem type bulb under it. I reckon its fennel,can you help.

Featured Answer

gardenerkev79

15 years ago

Bunnings Hardware is a large chain hardware/nursery store in Australia (this is the Australian forum) in the town I live in, and in many others around the country, they have put all the smaller nurseries out of business, thereby monopolizing the entire market, if they don't sell it, we can't get it. I meant no offense to anyone and to be honest can't even see how anyone could misconstrue the meaning of my message to be in any way offensive. apologies if they did.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

andy_sa
19 years ago
Fennel has an anise smell/taste.
Daisyduckworth
19 years ago
To distinguish Dill from Fennel: The leaves are more delicate than fennel and the seeds are flatter and thinner. The taste test is also quite reliable - fennel has that liquorice-y, anise-y taste and smell.

Dill and fennel will readily cross-pollinate, and fennel is usually dominant.
Related Discussions
WS vs DS for fennel, dill, and parsley for butterflies?
Q
Comments (7)
Last year WS Dill, Bronze Fennel, and flat-leaf Parsley. Zillions of sprouts with Dill and parsley, only 4 sprouts with Bronze fennel (which grew into beautiful plants that are perennial so 4 is sufficient). This year WS Fernleaf Dill and both Curly and flatleaf Parsley. The Bronze fennel over-wintered fine and is up growing. The regular Dill reseeded like crazy, there are zillions out there. The parsley did not over-winter, but is starting to sprout in cups, no problem with germinating these. Dill is an early summer bloomer and dies back after going to seed, the Fennel was a very late bloomer. You might want to try successive sowings with the Dill, it could work. Last year there were over a dozen Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the Bronze Fennel, 1 on the Dill and none on the parsley (that I observed).
...See More
Raising butterflies - T/J of Tiffy's thread
Q
Comments (13)
Thanks for the kind words! Who knows Leecb, maybe the Monarchs will stop and visit your yard! I've only released 3 so far, and they've taken off. They don't seem to hang around long enough to even nectar on the flowers a little. It's pretty easy to raise them, although Monarchs do have some issues to be aware of and they have a pretty high mortality rate in the larval (caterpillar) stages. I try to collect them as eggs - the best time is right after I see a female laying eggs. I put them in the container, lined with a paper towel or napkin on the bottom. They will hatch 4 days later into these little teeny caterpillars and grow amazingly fast. I put in fresh leaves, change the napkin, and clean out the poop each day. A picture of the eggs - the little white dots on the leaves. There is a lot of info on the Butterfly forum - there are a bunch of really nice people over there. I also learned a lot by reading the Monarch Watch website and there is a very helpful blog by a poster on the Butterfly forum named tdogmon. Here's a link - Here is a link that might be useful: Raising Monarchs
...See More
Black swallowtail went egg laying crazy!
Q
Comments (8)
I find more eggs everyday. I found another 11 today. At this point I'm just gonna stop counting and hope they all make it. I have so many tubs and I'm in process of building a large housing cage for the chrysalis' and a lady brought me a 20 gal aquarium that I'm going to keep inside to better house all these cats. I have been having issues with them disappearing. But I'm pretty sure some are getting eaten by others. I did have one cat out of the first batch of ten that randomly died. I'm think he wandered to far from the food and starved himself while I was away. I have 12 cats right now. One chrysalis and one in process. And then I have about 70 eggs I'm waiting on to hatch.
...See More
Fennel and dill seed problems
Q
Comments (2)
I have to lay a wire mesh over my dill seeds until they're well up, but my problem is mostly neighborhood cats who love the soft earth I plant them in.
...See More
gardenerkev79
15 years ago
it's virtually impossible to get fennel here for some reason, it's terribly frustrating, it's one of my favorite vegetables and a key ingredient in my fennel and chorizo risotto, stupid bunnings put the other nurseries here out of business too so if bunnings doesn't sell something there's nowhere else to go to look for it.
Globerover_hotmail_com
15 years ago
to: gardenerkev79,

It appears to me that you're using 'bunnings' as something which is only familiar to you, since such a word is not present in the Merriam Webster dictionary.
You may explain 'your meaning', if wish to do so, yet
please refrain to use impolite language since your 'printing' may be read by many people, and come as rude.
Tha's all

Stay well
gardenerkev79
15 years ago
to further explain - as this is the Australian forum section I assumed that mostly Australians would be using it and most Australians would have known exactly what I was referring to.
troy_kenah_net
15 years ago
Ha ha...that's funny. I think that GlobeRover is not living in Australia :-) Strange though that people would assume you're using impolite language rather than just something they don't understand...flaming galahs! :-P

I often get Fennel root from my local green grocer (Marrickville Metro, Enmore, Inner West Sydney)...but I think you're probably looking for something to actually plant?

Troy
largelyhappy_hotmail_com
15 years ago
That's given me a real laugh - assuming Bunnings to be offensive language - it's funny how some people always think the worst, isn't it?

I used Dill in the UK, it's the main ingredient of gripe water (and no, that's NOT water that you take if you want to gripe!) but my sons are grown up now.
If you run the feathery leaves of the plant between thumb and finger and it's scent is like aniseed - it's Fennel and the bulb under the earth is edible.
Foodtomax
15 years ago
I enjoy both fennel and dill. I often graze on them as I walk around the garden. I find that the nephews and nieces great nephews and nieces love to chew on fennel seeds when the seeds are quite young on the umbril and very sweet. At this stage the seeds also have a lovely mouth texture.

To me fennel has an anise taste while dill has an earthy taste.

Cheers Max

Related Stories

EDIBLE GARDENS Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Tasty, Frilly Dill

By Marianne Lipanovich

Flavor your food and attract butterflies with easy-care (and pretty) dill in the garden

PLANTING IDEAS Great Garden Combo: Tropical Beauties for a Sun-Drenched Border

These standouts hold up in drought, heat and humidity — and their good looks hold up to scrutiny

GARDENING GUIDES Evocative Plants to Awaken All the Senses

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Slip into a garden wonderland that brings more than mere visual delight, by including these grasses, flowers and herbs

EDIBLE GARDENS 7 Edible, Pretty Wonders of the Plant World

By CYAN Horticulture

It's OK to like them just for their looks, but these flowers, trees and greens have a tasty side too

EDIBLE GARDENS 12 Essential Herbs for Your Edible Garden

By Annie Thornton

Make home cooking and drinks even better with herbs plucked from your own backyard or windowsill pot

GARDENING GUIDES Attract Hummingbirds and Bees With These Beautiful Summer Flowers

By Annie Thornton

Roll out a welcome mat for pollinators to keep your landscape in balance and thriving

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Plants That Beat Butterfly Bush for the Wildlife Draw

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

It's invasive, a nonnative and a poor insect magnet. Check out these better alternatives to butterfly bush in the garden

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES Butterfly Gardening: Delight the Eyes With Living Sculptures

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Surprise and thrill with a garden that attracts magical winged creatures, bringing color, movement and life

GARDENING GUIDES Let's Weed Out 4 Native Plant Myths

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Plant wisely for a garden that supports pollinators and requires less work

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Steps to Creating Your Butterfly Garden

By Debbie Ballentine

Encourage these fanciful winged beauties to visit your garden while helping restore their fragmented habitat

Sponsored