Bronze Fennel Plants

Gorgeous bronze foliage, which can provide an architectural presence within the kitchen garden. It's feathery-ness is a soft yet showstopping texture in the garden, swaying in the breeze and adding a sense of movement to any herb planters. In the summer months a vibrant flush of sunshine-yellow flowers will draw a whole host of pollinators into your garden to feast making this a great option for butterfly and bee-friendly gardens.

Boasting a strong aniseed flavour, this herb is great when paired with fish dishes, sprinkled over salads or used to add a touch of elegance to finish a plate of fine dining food. What's more, it also makes a truly delicious herbal tea. Later in the season once the flowers begin to die back, you can also save the seed heads to harvest the fennel seeds which can be stored and saved for use throughout the year. 

If you simply crush a few of the leaves in your hand, or gently rub the leaves together between your fingers you'll get a waft of its tantalising scent which will set your creative juices flowing and have you coming up with a wide range of interesting creations to add your homegrown bronze fennel into. 

Bronze fennel is a relatively easy plant to grow so if great for beginners and seasoned pros alike. Watch our for their self-seeding nature though, as you could eaily end up with a whole forest of baby fennel plants!

For more inspiration for your herb garden, take a look at our guide to making a herb garden.

• Latin Name: Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’

  Type: Perennial

  Soil Type: Free draining

  Where should I plant this variety? Full sun

  How tall does it grow? Approx 1.5m

  How much space does it need? Approx 45cm

  When does it flower? Yellow flowers, in July-August

  Top care tips: Cut back in late autumn.

   
  

  Delivery Information

• Bronze Fennel or Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ is one of those herbs that looks just as good as it tastes - and it tastes pretty amazing. More on that later. Its bronze foliage provides an architectural presence in the kitchen garden that is particularly welcome during the autumn. It enjoys being planted somewhere sunny (the foliage looks best there too - imagine the low level sunlight on these leaves) and will grow to about 1.5m high. In the kitchen the leaves have a really strong aniseed flavour that is just delicious. We have used this to season fish dishes, autumnal stews but it also makes a really strong and very unusual (and delicious!) herbal tea!
  

• Delivery options explained

   

  Pre-order delivery option

  From January to March, customers are able to pre-order herbs for delivery later in spring, to ensure that you receive the unusual varieties that you desire. We begin dispatch of pre-orders from late March, once all items in your order are available for dispatch in one delivery, as some varieties will be available a little later in the year than others. You will receive notification when this dispatch takes place along with tracking information but if you would like an estimated delivery date after placing your pre-order, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  Order Now delivery option

  From late March to autumn, herbs will be available for immediate dispatch subject to their availability. We dispatch our fresh potted herbs Monday-Wednesday each week to avoid postal delays over the weekend. We aim to dispatch all fresh herb orders in less than seven days, i.e. an order placed Thursday-Sunday would likely be dispatched the following Monday. Orders placed Monday-Tuesday, we would aim to dispatch by the Wednesday of that week.

  If you have a specific dispatch date that you would like us to aim towards, please do not hesitate to let us know. We can't guarantee a particular date but will strive to do our best for you.

  Dispatch information

  All orders are dispatched via a next day courier, ensuring that your herbs reach you promptly and in good health. For customers in the Highlands, Channel Islands and Northern Ireland this is a 48-hour delivery service.

  Please note that we do not offer a collection service. Our site is not suitable to receive visitors and this is a rule that we have to apply universally out of respect to our neighbours and family.

  Packaging

  
  We aim to reuse packaging as much as possible. Your herbs will be delivered in taupe recyclable pots. We are moving over to using plastic blister cell packaging which contains at least 90% recycled content and is itself 100% recyclable. These things are important to you and are important to us.
  
  

  Customer satisfaction

  Occasionally due to circumstances beyond our control, problems can arise. If you are not satisfied in the condition of your plants upon reaching you, please contact us as soon as possible providing pictures so that we can deal with your enquiry and feedback to our courier service. We will endeavour to ensure a resolution is reached that leaves you satisfied.