Onion tree (Allium proliferum)
Onion tree (Allium
proliferum)
Quite bizarre, and quite useful for obvious reasons, the onion tree gives a new meaning to 'edible flower'.
The onion tree
will do well wherever onions or any of their relatives do in full sun and good soil, but instead of pulling them up each year they can be treated as a perennial by just harvesting the bubils produced in the July at the top which, though only about 1 - 1.5cm across are often produced in large numbers and go well in salads of all sorts.
If left unpicked they will tumble over and start to grow, forming small clumps which can also be pulled and used in the same way as spring onions, through the autumn and winter too.