WeedWacker, thanks so much for your information. I think a good part of my problem is that I plant them in spring. They rot so easily that the thought of planting them in the fall to over winter sort of boggles my mind. Seems like they would rot for sure. I wonder if that would work for onion sets also? I know that the UP get pretty ferocious weather so if you can grow it, then I should be able to also.
Thanks again (and also DrDawg) for your info.
Mary
PS. I looked at the garlic url. What about the Asiatic garlic. It looks to be under the hard neck varieties? Would that also work here?