Egyptian Walking Onions (Allium cepa var. proliferum), topsetting onions or tree onions are an interesting perennial onion with small bulbs and aerial bulbils that form at the top of the plant. They get their name “walking onion” because if they are neglected for a few years, the topsets fall over, root and begin to grow where they fell. The plant will literally “walk” around your garden if left on its own.

The whole plant is edible but the greens of the plant are most often used as green onions in the spring and early summer when the stems are tender. Don’t dig the whole plant, unless you have a well established patch, cut the greens just above the ground.

Plant in the fall as you would garlic. This can be planted at a close spacing and will form a dense clump after a few years in one spot. Does not have to be dug up each year like garlic. Underground bulbs also divide each year. Watch for the formation of bulbils in early to mid-summer.

One order is 30 grams which equals approximately 25-45 topsetting bulbils.