04/20/09, 02:26 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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Potato onions/shallots are not perennial although they will multiply if left in the ground. They are great storage onions in the South but poor winter survivors in the North. I've long ago learned to only plant them in the spring.
Although it may seem that there are few varieties of walking/topsetting onion varieties, there are 21 listed in the 2009 SSE Yearbook. Of those, I suspect that half are the same but under different names. I am presently growing 4 of which 2 are listed among those 21. I have Catawissa, Heritage Sweet, Red Egyptian, and True Egyptian. If their beds are not refreshed every 3 or 4 years, they become a solid mass of scallions. That is especially true of the Heritage Sweets which may produce up to 200 from one bulb in a single year.
Currently, 3 weeks after the snow melted, Catawissas and the Egyptians are already up nearly a foot. At this point, they would be referred to as spring onions and are sold as such at the farmers markets. All of the tops can be used in cooking as well as the tender bulb. None make a large bulb and what they do make is expended later to produce the topsets.
Although all the above are still almost 3 months away from producing their topsets, I do have about 20 left of what I call True Egyptian. All are sprouted and waiting to send down roots. They are available for the cost of postage and packing. The OP would have first chance. If not, then first to request them if she says no.
Martin
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I would love to have some! I remember my Dad had some onions-
