Walking onions are hilarious little plants. I laugh every time I walk by the onion bed.
This is a 4 x 4 bed. One year ago Saturday, the master gardeners had a plant sale. I had not even noticed this one 5 gallon bucket setting among the plants for sale. I heard someone ask a fellow master gardener what it was and she said “walking onions”. I had been wanting walking onions and had halfway searched for them online so I grabbed that pot. It was $5 and I didn’t have to think twice. A friend, and fellow master gardener was there and she asked me what I had found. I told her my best find was a container of walking onions. She said “Where are they? I want some too!”. There had been only one container of them so I told her I’d give her half of them. I did. Her’s died and mine have multiplied like crazy so I pulled more out and gave her more this year.
They’re so funny . . or at least I think they’re funny. You can read more about them here.
They form this little “ball” at the top. You can see that those onion blades/stems are very thick to support the weight. The ball is a cluster of bulblets.
The cluster will open up and a bunch of green onions are inside. Sometimes the blades are all nice and straight.
Sometimes they go every which way and it reminds me of my hair when I wake up in the morning. They really do make me laugh.
Eventually the top will get heavy, the whole thing will fall over and plant itself and about a dozen little onions will start to grow from that one. I can also save those little bulblets and plant them elsewhere. I want to plant them everywhere because I use a ton of green onions.
They would make a great ground cover for an area that needed a little erosion control. Vince brought in a load of dirt so the greenhouse kinda sits up on a little mound and I wanted to plant onions all around the greenhouse but Vince had other ideas. I have planted some along the side of the house and they’re growing nicely too. They weren’t terribly prolific during the winter but there were always green onions available throughout the winter.
Dottie says
My dad grew those several years ago (Texas Panhandle) and one year when we visited, he gave us some which we planted in Pennsylvania. They grew really well and, like you, they made me smile. They only grew a couple of years and then just died. Thanks for the memories.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Oh, no. Sad they died but they are funny, aren’t they?
Susan says
It does make me smile, though I never heard of them before. I will have to suggest them to my gardening friend.
Lorraine says
I planted one last year, purchased from Etsy, if I remember correctly. It didn’t do so well, but this spring it revived and is lush and green! I am anxious to see it ‘walk’!!! Fun plant!!
Christina says
onions bad hair day, that’s me every morning!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
But, isn’t that what it looks like? 🙂