BY: LESLIE HEFFNER

At the start of each new spring growing season I try to find something to grow that is different, out of the ordinary and quirky.

When you have gardening friends, that “find” often comes from them, which is how I came to grow Egyptian Onions. My friend Georgie had a whole bunch in her garden and was willing to part with a clump of bulbs, as they were taking up too much space.

That first set of bulbs thrived in a big bucket for many years until we had that June with 23 days of rain. Good drainage, I found out, would have prevented them from rotting away. A gardener always has hope that next year the crop, flowers, harvest, etc., will be better, so I replanted.

When my garden was invaded by muskrats —12, no less — many plants were leveled to the ground and dragged off. Whole areas of the yard were devoid of color and parts of the lawn were eaten, so Georgie gave me more onions. I planted them and discovered muskrats don’t like onions. The onions came back great this year, flowering, growing tall and setting many of the top set onions for which this plant is famous.

Egyptian Walking Onions (Allium cepa) also are known as Multiplier Onions, Tree Onions, or Top Set Onions. They are considered to be heirloom plants and date back to at least the 1850s.

Christopher Columbus brought onions with him to the Americas and they quickly spread among the many Native American cultures, but we don’t know if Walking Onions were part of this dispersal. The Egyptian part of the name is a mystery, but not the walking part.

THE 'WALKING' PART

The plant “walks” to new spots in the garden when the stalk’s cluster of top sets become so heavy, they fall to the ground here and there. New plants begin to grow and the growth process begins all over again.

Egyptian Onions have bulblets where normal onions would have their flowers. These onions are bulbiferous, meaning they produce bulbs. Their official name is Allium cepa variety viiparum. The “viiparum” in the name means the plant produces bulbs (new plants) instead of seeds. The sets (bulbs) will germinate (make roots and leaves) while still attached to the mother plant.

They are related to the Water Hyacinth, Iris, and Lily family. Unlike these three, however, all parts of this onion plant, are edible. Top sets may be harvested from late summer into autumn. The leaves may be cut at any time, but if you harvest all the greens from one plant it won’t be able to produce top sets for that year. The onions at the base of the plants in the ground may be harvested in late summer through fall.

All onions contain many active compounds that are thought to have beneficial effects on high blood pressure and heart disease. They also are utilized for their antibacterial and antifungal properties.

SPICY TASTE

Egyptian Walking Onions taste like a spicy onion. The hollow greens can be chopped up and eaten like chives or green onions. The bulbs can be fried, cooked in soups, eaten raw in a salad, or pickled.

Substitute chopped Walking Onions for scallions in Miso Soup; use them in place of shallots in sweet onion salad dressing for a spicier dressing, and chop the stems or red bulblets for use as a salad garnish. You also can peel and fry up the bulblets with bread crumbs and oil to make fried onions. Some people pop raw bulblets in their mouth like popcorn for a spicy treat.

Egyptian Onions are not difficult to grow. Herbaceous, they are grown as perennials in our area and flourish in full sun. They’ll grow 2 feet tall, producing white flowers.

Plant each set about 1 to 2 inches deep in slightly moist, well-drained, fertile soil; they hate wet feet. The sets should be spaced about 3 to 6 inches apart in each row; if you’re planting them in a big bucket or flower pot, just allow some space between each bulb.

PLANT IN FALL

Fall is the best time to plant them, so they can establish a strong root system. They are one of the first plants to start growing in the spring, sending out leaves even if there’s snow on the ground. By the end of the season, their hollow leaves can reach 3 feet in height and are a beautiful blue-green color, while the bulbs are a deep burgundy.

Sometimes, the plant will produce little white flowers among its sets that dry up as the bulblets compete with them for energy. That competition can come from as many as 20 sets (bulbs) on each leaf (looks like a stem). To keep the onions from becoming invasive, deadhead the top sets, remove the fallen bulblets from the ground and leave only a few underground onions to grow the next season.

GARDEN NOTES

The South Shore Garden Club will host a Victorian Harvest Tea Party Nov. 13, from noon to 3 p.m., in the Historic Old Bermuda Inn, Charleston. Victorian attire is optional.

It will feature a Tea Cup and Saucer Exchange and prizes for the most Victorian, the Prettiest and Most Original wrapped packages. Reservations must be made by Nov. 6; tickets are $35. Call 917-301-3124 for additional information and reservations.



Leslie Heffner is president of the Annadale Garden Club, one of the seven garden clubs comprising First District Federated Garden Clubs of New York State.