Growing Scallions: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · July 18, 2026
Scallions are one of the easiest alliums to grow: direct-sown, no bulbing to manage, and forgiving enough to go in the ground before your last frost while other crops are still waiting on warmer soil. They’re also one of the densest plantings you can make in a small bed.
Sowing it two weeks before your last frost
Sow scallions directly about two weeks before your last frost. They tolerate cool soil well and don’t need the head start many transplants require. At 60 days to maturity and 9 plants per square foot, a single square can produce a steady harvest, and cutting the green tops rather than pulling the whole plant lets some varieties regrow for a second round.
Low trouble, except for the beans nearby
Scallions are relatively low-trouble, but like other alliums they inhibit nitrogen-fixing bacteria on the roots of beans and peas, so problems usually trace back to bed placement rather than the plant itself. Overwintered plantings can bolt in spring once they’ve been through a cold spell. Expect that as a natural end point rather than a problem to fix.
Dense enough to fill the narrow gaps
Scallions and carrots are a classic pairing. Onion scent deters carrot rust fly while carrot scent deters onion fly, and scallions interplant well with lettuce thanks to non-competing root depths; see the full companion guide for scallion. At 9 per square foot, scallions are dense enough in the Garden Designer to tuck into narrow gaps around larger, slower crops rather than needing dedicated bed space.
Companion planting guide for Scallion (Green Onion) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Scallion (Green Onion) doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Scallion (Green Onion) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 9 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-1.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Evergreen Hardy White: Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this open-pollinated bunching onion as their most winter-hardy scallion variety, with little to no bulbing tendency and the ability to survive winter in well-drained soil, a good pick if you want to leave a planting in the ground into cold weather rather than harvesting it all at once. (source)
- Parade: An open-pollinated type Johnny's describes with bright white shanks and no bulging, at 65 days, bred for uniform upright growth that makes harvesting and cleaning faster. A general-purpose scallion where Evergreen Hardy White's winter survival isn't the priority. (source)
- Feast: Johnny's calls this the most downy-mildew-resistant bunching onion they've found, also at 65 days, and it can be sown spring through late summer for a fall or spring harvest. The pick specifically where mildew, not winter cold, has been the recurring problem. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy scallion seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing scallion (green onion)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Scallion (Green Onion): The densest, most forgiving allium in the garden: direct-sown, cut-and-come-again, and one of the few crops that can go in before your last frost.
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