Perennial onions and shallots

I've grown bunching onions in the past, and tried potato onions and shallots, too. But there's just something appealing about perennial vegetables that we normally grow seasonally (think perennial leeks, garlic chives, Welsh onions, etc.)

So the arrival of another batch of potato onions and French 'perennial' shallots from Southern Exposure Seed exchange sent me searching again for information about perennial onions. This article in Mother Earth News is informative and these folks at Mulberry Woods Nursery obviously know what they're writing about, and visit their sister site, Heirloom Onions for more information.

Apparently shallots and 'potato' or multiplier onions are derived from the same species cultivar, Allium cepa var aggregatum, but differ in the size and growing habit of the bulbs.

I'm excited about trying multipliers and perennial shallots again.  I obviously didn't realize how I was supposed to keep them going on my first try.  That won't happen again.

yellow potato onions and French 'perennial' shallots