Years ago, my stepfather had in his vegetable garden clumps of salad onions (not unlike spring onions) which he used to loosen the soil around and pull up a few as and when he needed them.
As I said, they looked like spring onions but had a red tinge to them, they never died and the clumps just got bigger and bigger. They had a very nice flavour as I recall.
I would love to grow these again and wonder if anyone knows what they are called and where I could acquire some.
They are from a bygone era as I know his father had planted them originally in the garden around the early 1900s.
They may have been these:Welsh (bunching )onion, Allium fistulosum
See:
www.realseeds.co.uk/onionsspecial.html
and
www.norfolkherbs.co.uk/product/welsh-onion-allium-fistulosum/
Hi Monika, if you're referring to the Allium cepa perutile Everlasting onions, or Sybies as they're known in Scotland, I was able to source some from Poyntzfield Nurseries www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk
I believe Pennard Plants lists them, too.
They bulb very slightly, have a reddish/pink base, and very rarely, if ever, flower. So they're propagated by dividing clumps. In contrast, Allium fistulosum bunching onions flower readily and can be propagated from seed.
Ansellsfarmer and Vetivert - thanks very much for your replies. But - in particular, those onions you describe, Vetivert, sound exactly like the ones I am seeking and I'll be chasing those up this coming week.
I'm so pleased I posted here, thanks again.