Hi Robyn -- onions do take a LONG time to develop from seed; I start seeds indoors in February and the plants still are pretty small when I put them out around mid to late May, but then they do start to take off pretty quickly. (We do need long-day onions here in the north; short-day onions are for southerners growing them during the "short days" of winter.)
I've had great luck with Candy (a neutral-day type), Copra, Patterson, Ruby Ring, Red Wing, and Southport Red Globe. Also with white sweet Spanish, but they don't keep well for me after harvesting so I've pretty much quit growing them.
Onion seeds don't store very well; although I've had some success with getting seeds from the previous year to germinate, I always start with fresh seeds each year. Of course, you can also buy "onion sets" to plant -- if you can still find them where you live (ours always seem to disappear by this time of year) you could still plant them now.
