Plant of the week: bronze fennel

What is it?

This plant ticks all the boxes for a garden all-rounder. For a start, it’s edible. And it’s a fast mover, popping up in spring after a winter rest and quickly reaching a height and spread of around 2m x 1m. The ferny, purple-brown foliage adds height and elegance to a border, and the yellow flowers in midsummer are irresistible to bees and hoverflies.

Plant it with?

Bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’) can sit happily among the thyme and rosemary in a sunny herb garden, or hang out in an ornamental border with herbaceous perennials such as rust-coloured verbascum ‘Clementine’, dark red-leaved sedums, and Verbena bonariensis.

And where?

Plant it in fertile soil in a sunny spot. It will grow more lush in moist conditions, provided it’s not waterlogged; it will grow lean and mean in drier spots.

Any drawbacks?

Bronze fennel will lavishly self-seed around if happy: to prevent this, remove the seedheads as they turn brown.

What else does it do?

Hang the seedheads up to dry and you can use your harvest in baking or add to spice mixes for meat. The fresh leaves are good with roast fish.