Fennel seeds from Florence fennel

I planted this fennel last November or so, in what was then my butterfly garden. It made it through the frosts and inundations and droughts and now has been blooming for a couple of months. I pick the seed caps as they dry, separate out the seeds, let them dry, and add them to my spice jar. My three or four little plants have produced easily two cups of seeds this season.

Flatwoods Plum and Fennel

I was given this bushy little tree, and told that it was a Chickasaw plum... but I've long suspected that it was misidentified, mostly because its growth habit is so low and weedy. I'm pretty sure now that it's Prunus umbellata, the Flatwoods Plum. After blooming in February, these trees produce small, fairly bitter little fruits. A couple of years ago the trees in this area produced a prolific harvest, and I picked a bunch with my son from neighbors' trees. We filled a few buckets, and made a tart and jelly from them. I think the trees are highly variable, and some trees have fairly sweet fruit while others' fruit is sour or bitter. Anyway, the best use for them is jelly, which you can sweeten until the bitterness and sourness is no longer perceptible.

Florence Fennel. This bunch is over a year old. It suffers a bit in the heat and humidity, but produces bulbs pretty readily during the cool season. I like the fronds (in salads) almost as much as the bulbs.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

I planted a bunch of bronze fennel last fall, aiming to attract Black Swallowtail caterpillars. They decidedly prefer my garden's Florence Fennel, which is about to bloom. I wonder if I'll be able to harvest fennel seeds? That's one of my favorite spices...