Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• minimal susceptibility to downy mildew
• long storage life
DISEASES AND PESTS
Shallots are more robust than common onions but can be affected by the same
diseases. Do not grow shallots where other alliums were recently grown.
CULTIVATION HISTORY
Wild shallots are found in the Middle and Far East. Cultivated shallots are
used like common onions in Europe. In Charlemagne's
Capitulare de Villis
, “cepas” (common onions)
were differentiated from “ascalonias” (shallots).
TOPSETTING ONION, TREE ONION
Allium
×
proliferum
The topsetting onion is a true curiosity of the onion family. A nest of bulbils forms not in the soil but
above ground, at the ends of its stalks; these then sprout and form another level of plant growth, which
eventually produces its own set of bulbils, producing a third story, as it were. The bulbils are eaten
raw, sautéed, or as a seasoning. Young leaves can be used as green onions in soups and salads; young
bulbils can be pickled. Topsetting onions are not grown commercially but make for an interesting addi-
tion to home gardens.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
• five handsome, healthy plants
POLLINATION NOTES
Plants rarely produce flowers. When they do, they can cross with neighboring
common onions.
PROPAGATION
Topsetting onions are perennial, and various sources list them as being hardy to zone 3
or 4. They can only be propagated vegetatively, which is a relatively easy task: simply collect the
newly formed bulbils and plant (ideally in late summer). Rejuvenate older “stories” every three or four
years. Plants sometimes do this themselves, by falling over when they get too tall; bulbils then send
out new roots.
