8 beautiful ideas to pair Fennel

In a naturalistic border

The cottage garden is a boon for fennel, where it can fully express its natural and wild potential thanks to its extraordinary feathery foliage. If you are embarking on a naturalistic garden style, feel free to choose either common fennel or bronze fennel—a very beautiful variety with purple foliage. Give it a good spot alongside other airy plants, with umbel inflorescences like it, such as Angelicas or Ammi visnaga, and some yellow or orange yarrow to support its summer radiance. To enhance the wild meadow aspect, insert some grasses with Stipas pennata or Stipas tenuissima that will undulate around, as well as taller and lighter Pennisetums like Pennisetum macrourum, and stunning Sporobulus heterolepis silky.

This bed will be enhanced by different inflorescence shapes such as the spiky balls of Eryngiums, the bristly cones and the long sunny flowering of purple coneflowers or the white flowering of Echinacea pallida ‘Hula Dancer’, along with some Asters and Sedums for a beautiful bed lasting until autumn.

Fennel is associated in this naturalistic bed with some Stipas tenuissima, Angelicas archangelica, purple coneflowers, Eryngiums planum ‘Neptune’s Gold’, Sporobulus heterolepis, and Yarrow

In an opulent mixed border

The airy quality and the soft yet vibrant colours of fennel allow it to blend seamlessly into a generous mixed border in a cottage garden or an English garden. It will bring a lot of charm and natural abundance to an extra-wide flowerbed, combining its finely dissected foliage with the bright blooms of summer.

Its beautiful stature requires positioning in the middle or back of the area. For example, pair the nebulous, purplish foliage of bronze fennel with the grey, downy leaves of Stachys byzantina or a santolina, or with the anise-green of Alchemilla, and contrast these soft hues with some lush perennials like Amaranthes or Crocosmias. The abundance of Euphorbia characias, Iris, and Alliums will enhance spring, while a beautiful mass of Heleniums and Persicaires will extend it until the first frosts. Feel free to add more structure with a lovely Angelica archangelica and complete this mixed border with a small purple-leaved bush like Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’ and a medium-sized Miscanthus such as ‘Morning Light’.

Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ alongside Euphorbia characias, orange Heleniums, amplexicaulis Persicaires, hybrid Crocosmias ‘Saracen’, a Cotinus, and santolina

In a spring border

As it develops early in the season and grows very quickly, fennel can provide its height as a backdrop for some late spring bulbous plants, forming a light and airy head of a seasonal bed. Since it self-seeds if you allow a few inflorescences to go to seed, you can rely on this small bed year after year.

The glaucous tones of the foliage and its yellow flowering pair perfectly with blue to violet and yellow inflorescences: Combine a beautiful clump of common fennel with Camassias quamash, a duo of Allium ‘Ambassador’ in purple and Allium flavum in bright yellow, and a lovely mass of late double tulips ‘Orange Angelique’. Add some Freesias ‘Double Yellow’ to ensure a beautiful summer flowering, along with the very airy elegance of Pennisetum orientale ‘Shogun’.

A late spring bed will combine fennel with late tulips (‘Orange Angelique’), Camassias quamash, Alliums ‘Ambassador’, and Alliums flavum

In a vibrant scene

While it can blend into tone-on-tone shades, the highly versatile fennel can also assert its presence within a vibrant, warm-coloured border. The bright yellow of fennel’s umbels pairs perfectly with a cheerful mix of fiery perennials in full summer.

To make it the star of a vibrant scene, you will stimulate the eye with hues in the colour spectrum ranging from pale yellow to orange, including coral shades up to red. Always placing fennel at the back of the border (it measures between 1.50 and 2.50 m depending on the varieties), install some Kniphofias, bold Heleniums, Phlomis fruticosa, as well as some vibrant daylilies, a few Lilies, and Coreopsis. The Indian pink of a Monarda ‘Croftway Pink’ can also join in for a very vibrant effect. The Eremurus ‘Romance’, adds nuance to these strong colours while bringing a vertical interest. Insert some earlier perennials like Euphorbia griffithii ‘Dixter’ and soft grasses (Miscanthus nepalensis).

Play with a whole palette of warm tones: the orange of daylilies and Heleniums, the Indian pink of Monarda ‘Croftway Pink’, the foliage and inflorescences of Euphorbia griffithii ‘Dixter’, also counting on the lightness of Miscanthus nepalensis

All in contrast

The lemon yellow of fennel pairs perfectly with its complementary colour, blue, and its shades up to violet. It is interesting to combine fennel with these cooler colours to create a beautiful contrast in summer borders.

There are numerous options for blue flowering plants, but care should be taken to favour different foliage forms and habits from fennel: Agastache foeniculum and Teucrium hircaninum ‘Paradise Delight’ with bluish spikes, the tall Iris germanica Buc ‘Joyeux Anniversaire’, repeat flowering at the end of summer, a whole range of Agapanthus, lavenders, and the wildflower Cupidones caerulea. Dot the scene with yellow spots to echo the fennel: large flowers of Helenium autumnale ‘Pumilum Magnificum’, a light yellow cloud from Bupleurum falcatum, or the lovely bicolour Agastache ‘Summer Glow’. An Amsonia hubrichtii will provide cohesion with fennel through its very fine foliage and blue flowering, and it will give the border a lovely orange hue in autumn before disappearing, while a Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Overdam’ will brighten the whole with its variegated cream linear leaves.

Fennel pairs wonderfully with bluish tones: balls of agapanthus, the lightness of Catananches, upright spikes of Agastaches, and large yellow pom-poms of Helenium autumnale ‘Pumilum Magnificum’

In a dry garden

The growing conditions of fennel make it a good candidate for enlivening a dry garden or a scree garden: it enjoys cool soils but particularly thrives in dry, poor soil, with limited watering needs. As it requires plenty of sunlight to prosper, it can truly be considered in a dry, even mineral garden configuration, where it will add a somewhat graceful volume.

In this setup, a bronze fennel or a Foeniculum ‘Giant Bronze’ will look stunning with their natural purplish hues, which you can pair with a palette of grey tones and yellow, white, and blue flowers. Of course, opt for undemanding plants with a chic yet understated appearance, and varying heights such as Helichrysum orientale, Euphorbia corollata, lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’, Cistus monspeliensis, Asters frikartii, and Calaminthas. A few Helictotrichons can be included to add a bluish note, and since your soil will be well-drained, you could even plant a beautiful Agave americana ‘Mediopicta’ or a Phormium to structure the whole and contrast with the lightness of the fennel.

A beautiful bronze fennel at the centre, accompanied by Euphorbia corollata, Helictotrichons, a Phormium tenax ‘Purpureum’, and Montpellier rockrose

In an aromatic garden

What if we had fun inserting fennel into a space that is familiar to it, the aromatic garden or the medicinal plant garden, betting on a whole range of companion plants as delicious as it is on your plate?

Surrounded by a woven border to create elegant squares of herbs, it will radiate its splendour at the centre, surrounded by medicinal sages, a collection of oregano and mints or basils, or even lemon balm and thyme. Insert here and there some chamomiles, hyssops, mallows, borage, and California poppies to bring vibrant colours and beautiful foliage. Also focus on the lovely verticals of Agastaches in spikes and clary sages. Don’t forget to plant a beautiful specimen of rosemary or lavender in another square so that each space has volume, and install a cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) in another square to complement it.

However, be careful not to place your fennel near certain herbs that it does not appreciate, particularly dill and wormwood!

Fennel will ensure a beautiful presence in a square of herbs with some ‘Golden Jubilee’ Hyssops, a lovely clump of lemon balm, chamomile, and oregano. The cardoon (bottom left) will be installed in another square to complement it.

In the cut flower garden

Perfect for summer bouquets with its ethereal quality and tangy colours, fennel is well-suited for planting in a cutting garden where you can pick at your leisure to create beautiful displays and decorate your table.

It can be mixed with a whole range of flowers with distinct habits and colours, such as Peonies, Irises, and ornamental Alliums in spring, followed by Cosmos, Dahlias, poet’s carnations, love-in-a-mist, Delphiniums, and of course roses in summer, not forgetting sweet peas, marigolds, and zinnias, and a little later, Asters and Japanese Anemones. Passing by the vegetable garden, you can add some flowering oregano, whose mauve pairs beautifully with the yellow of fennel.

In the cutting garden, the choice of associations with fennel is immense! Here accompanied by love-in-a-mist, poet’s carnations, dahlias, and Iris germanica