Tree onion, Egyptian walking onion – Allium × proliferum

The tree onion is an old variety and a real curiosity of the vegetable garden. Clusters of bulbils form at the top of its stems; they are eaten like small onions or replanted. Simply renew the planting every five years.

• Botanical name: Allium × proliferum
• Hardiness: very hardy perennial
• Harvest: the bulbils at the top of the stems, in summer
• Uses: like onions, raw or cooked; young leaves like spring onions
• Lifespan: renew every five years

In the garden

Full sun, loose, light and well-drained soil, not too rich and without fresh manure. Plant in rows 20 cm apart, 10 cm apart in the row. No particular watering is needed.

The plant you receive

A farm-grown plant raised outdoors at 1,000 m altitude in the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park: never in a heated greenhouse, fed with organic fertiliser only and grown following permaculture principles.