I am looking for the same kinds of things. According to the Southern Living Gardening Book, good shallots for the south are Bonilla, Matador, and Prima. Seed for Bonilla can be had from Territorial. Seed for Matador is available through Cooks Garden. I have not found a source for Prima.
How about we each buy one package and then split them? E-mail me if you are interested.

donnabaskets, I found the Bonilia on page 39.
It is not a shallot, but XG422 Yellow Multiplier on page 40.
I planted them in the Fall of 2010 & had a great chop.
Still have same large ones & about 100 top set to plant in the Spring.
I planted 125 or so set, this Fall of 2011, they are doing great.
Thank you for the names.

Great to hear the report! Sounds like Bonilla also makes topset onions?! I ordered some seed just yesterday.

George

Okay, you two. I am confused. With all the reading I have done I had arrived at the conclusion that a shallot is a different critter from a multiplier. It was my understanding that multipliers are what we usually call green onions that produce by offsets, rather like daffodils. You eat the green part and the white shaft. A shallot is supposed to be a cross between garlic and an onion. The shallot makes cloves like garlic and the bulbs are harvested and eaten (though I know you can cut the green tops too), but some saved for planting later. Am I wrong? george, I still want Bonilla, but is it not going to be a true shallot? I hope Matador is!!

Also, I ordered a different shallot AND a multiplier from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and I got confirmation yesterday that the order has shipped! I Understood that they would be shipped next fall.... Will I have time to make a crop? If so, great! But if not, now what?

Donna,

If my theory is correct, all shallots are multiplier onions. But not all multiplier onions are shallots. Below is a link to someone's definition of "shallot."
I know that some onions won't bulb up in certain environments, but they will in others. So that a multiplier won't make bulbs in a given locality doesn't technically exclude it from being a shallot.
A potato onion, is larger than a shallot. At least that's how I have seen it. Also, any potato onion with which I've had experience, has the growth habit, that if one plants a small bulb, they will harvest a large bulb, and if they plant a large bulb, they will harvest around a dozen small bulbs. Below is a picture of the potato onion I'm presently growing. My greatest complaint with it, so far, is that it has tended to cook in the ground, during the hottest part of the year, and it hasn't kept very well. But we may yet get things figured out and functioning satisfactorily.

{{gwi:134312}}

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Answers dot com on

Wow, George. Those are good looking bulbs!I am thrilled to see what they look like/what I can expect! I think I read somewhere that potato onions are not day length sensitive, which makes them sound like a good bet for me. I have ordered some. I wonder how it would work to pull them all in the late spring and store in a cellar, etc. until replanting in fall. Perhaps then you wouldn't have losses due to the heat?

I think that would work quite well. Here, they dry down in June, just before the worst heat. Also, I wonder if they might not somehow adapt Every time I dig them, I manage to miss one or two, which then survive and sprout in the fall. These survivors always seem more vigorous than the ones I have pampered. Anyway, I'm still working with potato onions. They are WONDERFUL. When we lived in Indiana, they were our main onion. My wife's grandparents raised them for decades, in Southern Illinois, and they were the only onion they grew.

Here is the link to where I purchased my start. Unfortunately, since that year (2008, I believe) this woman hasn't had any for sale. I suspect that demand was so heavy, that she sold too much of her own seed stock. I do love her web site and the info she has there.

http://www.tateronions.com/

Below, also, is a link to a thread on this forum with several links. Just in case anyone is interested. Donna, I'm glad you already have your start. It is challenging to multiply them enough to both eat, and share these; which is probably why they are so rare among seed companies.

Two years ago I had a pretty good crop. I sent half to Sandhill Preservation Center. So, one of these days, they will probably offer them.

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Allium forum thread on Potato Onions

I couldn't get the first site to open. Perhaps she is not in business anymore? I did look through the mainepotatolady. Very interesting site.

I decided to call back SESE and double my potato onion order. Thanks, George!

Yes, I believe Tateronions.com shut down.

George

Get in touch with Leesa Corp. They sell pre-packaged shallots in all the Publix Stores located in the southeast US. Maybe they can help you? I buy their shallots which I think are primarily marketed to Asians for Asian recipes based on the plastic packaging the shallots come in, but I use them when prepare Italian (vodka sauce), French omelettes, Polish pierogis and Chinese egg fried rice to name a few. As you can see shallots are truly versatile and very dainty in their flavour. Try a shallot today. You’ll truly Love them.