Egyptian walking onions?

Nov 04, 2025 Last reply: 6 months ago 7 Replies
T

Hi All,



Any of you grow "Egyptian walking onions"?



Fun, Wonderful, to be avoided? Your thoughts.



I like the "perennial' part and the cold-hardy part. Plus they seem fun to grow.



Best grown from sets or seeds?


-T



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Egyptian Walking Onions, scientifically known as Allium × proliferum, are a unique perennial onion variety that propagate by forming clusters of small bulbs, called topsets or bulblets, at the top of their stalks. These topsets grow heavy over time, causing the stalk to bend and fall to the ground, where they can take root and grow into new plants, giving rise to the name "". This process allows the plant to spread across a garden, typically moving 1 to 3 feet per year.


Growing zones (I am 6B):

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Egyptian walking onions (Allium x proliferum) are hardy and an be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 10. They are exceptionally cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -24°F (-31°C), which makes them suitable for a wide range of climates


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J
Best Answer

Since they don't bloom, there are no seeds. You can plant bulbils or divide existing clumps.

They called them "winter onions" when I was growing up, because you get scallions as soon as you can dig them up. I ate some on New Year's Day last year. Then no more until the last day of February.

Everybody had a neglected patch when I was growing up, but I couldn't get them to thrive without planting them in a row and weeding them. Since I didn't have time to harvest and eat all the bulbils this year, I have scallions all over the garden. I hate to just plow them under with the cultivator. The large-enough-to-mess-with onions in the row are still producing, but I have to pull a lot of weeds to dig one up, and I'm still short on time. (I should be in bed instead of typing this.)

You get scallions until they start making bulbils. The bulbils can be cooked without peeling for a while; when

Thursday, November six 2025 -- going to bed. Saturday, November eight 2025 -- got a quarter hour to play before bedtime.

When the bulbils get tough, you can cut each one in half and pop it out of its shell -- helps if you don't quite cut through the shell, so each half can be used as a handle for the other -- that's rather tedious if you want more than a garnish, but along about then they start making bulbs at the base. You have to throw away an entire plant to get a bulb, and it's sometimes very small, but it's not tedious to clean enough to make a mess of stew.

The bulbs sprout as soon as they are fully formed, but remain good and crisp for weeks after they sprout. When they do spoil, you've got scallions again.

3 November 2025

Looks as though this was finished when my fifteen minutes were up.

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S

They WILL spread if you let them . I had some growing out in the yard purely as an ornamental , never tried eating them as the bulbs remain kinda small .

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T

With my black thumb, I am use to small. How small is small?

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S

Around golf ball size or slightly larger . Let the bulblets on the tops root in flower pots . Transplant later or give as gifts .

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J

Thursday, 17 December 2025

I forgot that it isn't enough for the soil to be soft enough to stick a trowel into. You have to be able to *find* the thing you want to dig up -- and for a while, finding soil to stick a trowel in would have involved a lot of digging.

I was hoping the snow would stick to the end of the year, but we've struck a rainy spell. (Northern Indiana, USA)

I dug up a few scallions yesterday. I've figured out how to clean them after disconnecting the hoses: Put a bucket in the sink to catch the dirt and trimmings, and work inside in comfort. I may continue that after the weather warms up. (I have rectangular Rubbermaid mop buckets that fit into the sink.)

I dug up a clump of scallions yesterday. Since the sprouted bulbils were easiest to get at, they are wee tiny things but so sweet and crisp that they are worth the effort when I can spare the time. Most of the greens have to be thrown away.

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