Allium × proliferum
Common names: Heirloom White, Heritage Sweet White, Tree Onion, Topsetting Onion, Walking Onion, Winter Onion, Perennial Onion, Medusa Onion, Snake Onion
Quantity Pricing
White Egyptian Walking Onion Topsets
🧅 Sold out - check back in late September for availability!
White Egyptian Walking Onion topsets are available in hand-counted quantities. Bulbs typically range from approximately ¼ inch to ¾ inch in diameter, reflecting the natural variation produced within a mature planting. Each order is packed in a breathable paper sack to protect the bulbs during transit while preventing excess moisture.
Extra topsets are routinely included. Visit our topset guide for more information on topset size, color, development, and variation.
Shipping is capped at $10.50 for orders up to 200 topsets and is sent via USPS Priority Small Flat Rate Box for reliable delivery. Larger quantities ship in appropriately sized boxes as needed.
See the shipping information page for full details.
Heritage White Egyptian Walking Onion is a perennial top-setting onion selected for its pale green to straw-white bulbils, reliable cold tolerance, and notably mild flavor. Like all walking onions, it reproduces by forming clusters of topsets at the tip of each mature stalk — the plant’s natural means of propagation. As the bulbils mature, their papery skins shift from fresh green to pale grey or muted ivory tones, signaling readiness for harvest.
Our topsets are organically grown and harvested by hand at full maturity, then cured and counted individually before packing. Dry outer layers are normal and indicate proper curing, helping protect the topsets from moisture loss while guarding against mold and bacterial issues during storage and transit.
Topsets vary naturally in shape — some round, others slightly elongated or flattened — with coloration ranging from light green to ivory or soft grey depending on maturity and growing conditions. Many arrive with small sprouts or emerging roots, all signs of healthy, viable planting material.
For more information about the topsets you will receive, see our topset guide.
This strain produces slightly smaller plants than the red forms but maintains comparable topset size and reproductive vigor. Each topset contains the stored energy required to establish a vigorous new plant. Once planted, roots develop quickly, followed by the first green starter leaves.
Established ground bulbs are extremely cold hardy, tolerating winter temperatures well below zero. In one recent season, leaves that grew in the fall after topsets were harvested, remained green and upright throughout the winter. Temperature lows reached 13°F. While leaf survival will vary with exposure and duration of cold, the bulbs themselves persist reliably and resume growth as soon as conditions moderate.
When winters are not severe enough to kill back the foliage, plants can function as a true cold-season scallion — providing fresh green onion flavor at a time of year when very few garden crops remain active.
For more information on cold hardiness, see the zones and weather page.
Heritage White is distinctly milder than most red walking onions. The greens are tender, aromatic, and well suited for raw use, while the topsets develop clean onion flavor without excessive sharpness.
This balance makes the strain especially useful as a dual-purpose plant — both a propagation onion and a practical kitchen crop.
After planting your topsets, roots typically establish within 1–2 weeks, followed by the emergence of the first green starter leaves. As the season progresses into winter, the plant focuses on building underground bulbs while the above-ground foliage dies back. The following spring, new leaves emerge - the solar panels that feed the bulb throughout the growing season. A topset stalk is unlikely to grow this first season for the little topset bulb. After summer dormancy, autumn returns and the bulb will most likely divide. New leaves emerge once more to feed the bulbs. After the second winter, spring returns and the bulbs grow vigorously, producing the first stalks and topsets, marking the beginning of your perennial onion patch.
For more information on the growth cycle of Egyptian Walking Onions, see the life cycle page.
White walking onions are valued for their clean, traditional onion flavor with a notably milder edge than many red forms. The greens offer a fresh scallion character suitable for early-season use, and throughtout the winter where temperatures stay above 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The white topsets provide a balanced onion intensity ideal for cooking, pickling, or fresh use when a smoother, less sharp profile is preferred.
Plant topsets in well-drained soil with full sun for strongest growth. Walking onions tolerate a wide range of conditions but perform best where spring moisture is dependable and summer soil does not remain waterlogged.
See our planting guide for detailed instructions.
Allow some topsets to root naturally if expansion is desired, or harvest them to maintain spacing and airflow within the patch.
Visit our Taming Your Topsets page for more information on maintaining your Egyptian Walking Onion patch.
Propagation is immediate and reliable — simply plant the topsets. No specialized handling is required, and establishment rates are typically high.
Mature clumps can also be divided at the base, providing another straightforward method of increase.
White Egyptian Walking Onions represent a recognized strain of the perennial walking onion (Allium × proliferum), distinguished by its pale green-to-white topsets and milder flavor compared with many of the more common red-skinned forms.
Among white forms, “McCullar’s White” is a well-known strain recognized by growers for producing consistently white topsets and maintaining reliable perennial vigor. Because walking onions are propagated vegetatively and shared widely through garden networks, it is possible that many white Egyptian Walking Onions in circulation today descend from this original strain.
Heritage White Egyptian Walking Onion brings together what few plants can: true ornamental structure and dependable food value in one enduring perennial. Pale green to ivory-white topsets gather in branching clusters at the tips of sturdy stalks, creating a sculptural display that shifts and rebalances as the plant “walks” through the seasons.
Hollow green leaves rise upright and catch the sun, forming clean vertical accents in the garden long before many annual crops emerge. As the season progresses, the branching stalks and clustered bulbils provide visual movement and textural contrast — part architecture, part living sculpture.
Every part has purpose. The leaves are edible, the topsets are planting stock, and established clumps return reliably year after year. Ornamental. Edible. Cold-hardy. Perennial. The onion that walks.