Garden Guru: Trap butterflies and wildlife with backyard fennel

Acrowd of us excitedly gathered around the fennel Tuesday and Icould not help thinking if there was ever a perfect trap crop for the garden, this was it.

If you are not familiar with the term trap crop, it is normally one that catches or entices insects diverting them from the one crop that is making the money. Calling fennel a trap crop, however, is a little tongue and cheek.

I challenge you to grow it and see what I mean. You will trap or lure Eastern black swallowtail butterflies, as do most members of the carrot or parsley family. They will lay eggs that will appear almost as tiny ornaments which will hatch and give you more feeding caterpillars than you ever imagined. There will be tiny ones as well as every stage or instar. Look closely and you may find the chrysalis, too!

You've no doubt heard phrases like it is a bird-eat-bug world out there or the early bird get the worm -or should I say caterpillar? Well the fennel becomes a real National Geographic stop in the garden and it's not just birds, either. Pay close attention and you'll see the green anole or lizards, as well as green tree frogs doing their version of a reptilian or amphibian-like safari.

Yes, the fennel is a trap crop for wildlife, but even more importantly it will trap your children and grandchildren who will want to spend time outdoors as they are sure to become mesmerized by the wildlife extravaganza. Pat yourself on the back as you will have done your part in giving the old one two punch to TV and video games.

Though it sounds as though I have been touting fennel for the backyard wildlife habitat, to the rest of the world, fennel whether bronze or green, is a culinary-delight. Known botanically as Foeniculum vulgare, it is perennial in zones 5-11. It has both aromatic leaves and seeds that are used in Italian dishes and grilled fish throughout the Mediterranean making sure fennel will always be a mainstay in the herb garden.

At the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens we have both the green and the bronze. No matter which you choose or where you grow it, you will relish in its extraordinary, unmatched fine-leaf texture. Even if the plant failed to deliver small exquisite yellow blossoms, the wispy extra fine foliage is magical in the garden.We have our bronze-leafed fennels growing in partnership with burgundy leafed coleus. Our green fennel is partnered with colorful portulaca and Flambe Yellow chrysocephalum.

Whether you grow yours in an herb garden, butterfly garden or simply love the texture in the perennial garden, select a location with plenty of sun. The soil should be rich, fertile and very well drained. Transplants are usually easy to find at your local garden center. Dig you holes twice as large as the rootball which will create a great environment for quick root establishment. To keep plants bushy, cut foliage back as needed until time for it to produce flowers and seed.

You can also grow fennel just as easily from seeds. Seeds are planted in the very early spring sown lightly and covered with about a quarter inch of soil. Thin the seedlings to 12 to 18 inches apart. You can let your seedlings get about 6 to 8 inches tall before thinning or transplanting elsewhere in the garden. In the kitchen make sure you try using both the fennel leaves and seeds when they are produced. Once seeds are harvested, cut the bloom stalks down to the ground.

Once you start growing fennel I promise you too will get trapped. If it's not the butterflies and caterpillars that hook you the fine leaf texture or culinary property will.

Norman Winter is the director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. You can follow him on twitter @CGBGgardenguru.