Welsh onion
Allium fistulosum
Perennial
Also called Welsh bunching onion, Japanese onion and stone leek. Welsh onions have a mild, chive-like flavour and can be used whole like a spring onion. You can also harvest the leaves to use like chives, and the edible flowers can be pulled apart and scattered over dishes as an oniony garnish.
Add Welsh onions to salads, stir fries, omelettes and other egg dishes. Fold the chopped leaves into herb butters and use as a topping for soups.
Sow Direct into well prepared soil in spring through to summer, or in modules in spring to plant out in late May/early June.
Grow Welsh onions need very little care. They do best in full sun and rich moist, but well-drained soil. Water regularly in dry weather and keep weeded, especially as the young seedlings become established. An autumn mulch with home made compost keeps the soil healthy and full of nutrients. Dig up and divide clumps every few years – unless you are regularly harvesting the onions, to prevent the clump becoming overcrowded.
Uses Harvest the onions from June – October at about pencil thickness. Or cut off leaves when you need them as you would chives.
This is a really good pollinator plant – the flowers might not be hugely ornamental but the bees absolutely love them.