My take on onions:
Bulb onions(red, white, yellow): can be deep-fried, roasted, grilled or poached, etc. and are a major component in mirepoix and the cajun trinity.
In theory, larger onions are supposed to be milder while white & yellow medium sized onions are supposed to be more potent -- it seems to me that in the past couple of years, they're all getting stronger! The south's beautiful Vidalia or Texas' 10-15s are sweeter than the average onion and are perfect for salads and make an awesome onion ring!
Pearl onions can also be prepared in almost any manner, roasted, sauteed, boiled and are often seen in soups and stews (M. Brown, we have them with peas on Thanksgiving).
Speaking of onions, don't forget one of my favourites, the leek. Sweeter and milder than onions, leeks can add wonderful flavour to a dish!
Scallions are really just baby onions. They are milder than the bukb variety. Use in stirfries, salads, egg dishes. I love them in a wonderfully pouffy basil frittata!
Shallots look more like garlic in that they have cloves. They are more mild and add a nice dimension to your dishes.
Garlic: the Mexican pink is usually more robust while elephant garlic is larger and milder. Longer cooking time makes the garlic milder than does a short time.
Hope this helps! Use a variety for an awesome French Onion soup or sweat them with fresh thyme, reduce with some cream and spread over a puff pastry tart shell and you have a wonderful onion tart!
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