Egyptian Walking Onion New · Sep 2026

Egyptian walking onion is a permanent perennial in Luke's Decatur garden: planted once from fall bulbils or divisions, it spends its first year mostly building roots and clump size, then from its second year on it produces spring scallions, summer topset bulbils, and fall bulbs indefinitely while slowly walking itself a foot or two across the bed each season.

1. 1

   Planting bulbils or divisions

   Sept-Oct in Zone 8a, 6-8 weeks before first frost (around Nov 12)

   You'll see Bulbils look like small papery-skinned onions, 0.5-1 inch across, sometimes still clustered in a loose topset head with a few dried stem fragments attached. Whole clump divisions look like a fan of 3-6 slim white onion bases with roots and a few inches of green top.

   Do Plant bulbils or divisions now so roots establish before winter cold sets in.

   Details
2. 2

   First-year establishment

   Fall through the following spring, roughly Oct-May of year one

   You'll see You'll see mostly a modest tuft of upright, hollow, blue-green leaves, 8-14 inches tall, thickening slowly at the base. There's little to no flowering or topset activity this first year -- the plant is putting its energy underground.

   Do Let it grow undisturbed; harvest only lightly if at all this first year.

   Details
3. 3

   Spring green (scallion) harvest

   Year two onward, March-May

   You'll see Clumps send up a flush of thick, hollow, scallion-like green shoots, often a dozen or more per established clump, each 10-18 inches tall with a mild onion smell when bruised.

   Do Cut some of the outer shoots at soil level for scallion use without killing the plant.

   Details
4. 4

   Scape and topset formation

   Early to mid summer, roughly June-July

   You'll see Thick, rounded, hollow flower-stalk-like scapes rise 2-3 feet above the leaves. Instead of true flowers, each scape tip swells into a knobby green cluster that develops into a bunch of small bulbils -- the topsets -- sometimes with a few thread-like bulbils or a wispy flower or two mixed in.

   Do Let the topsets develop and plump up on the plant; don't harvest the scapes yet.

   Details
5. 5

   Topset harvest and the walk

   Mid-late summer, roughly July-August

   You'll see By now the scape is fully arched or even lying on the ground, and the topset bulbils are firm, plump, and papery-skinned. Where a cluster has touched soil, you may already see thin white roots emerging from the bulbils into the ground.

   Do Harvest most of the topsets for pickling or replanting stock, but leave a few clusters where they land so the clump can walk.

   Details
6. 6

   Fall/winter underground bulb harvest

   Fall into early winter, roughly Oct-Dec, after top growth dies back

   You'll see Top growth yellows and dies back with the season's first real cold snaps. Below ground, each division has swollen into a small, elongated onion bulb, stronger-flavored and more pungent than the green tops.

   Do Dig a portion of the clump for its underground bulbs, leaving enough of the clump in place to regrow.

   Details
7. 7

   Dividing the mature clump

   Every 3-4 years, ideally fall or very early spring

   You'll see An undivided clump becomes crowded -- you'll see a dense mat of bulbs and shoots competing for space, smaller individual shoots, and reduced topset production compared to a fresh clump.

   Do Dig the whole clump and split it into smaller fans of 3-6 bulbs each, replanting at the original spacing.

   Details

Techniques — transplant, prune, propagate, divide, seed