Mary, everything I have ever read about growing garlic in the north says to plant in late Sept., early Oct. -- I'm not sure when you would have to plant to get top growth, since I've never tried that; but again, "everything I have ever read" says the top growth will die back and deplete the energy of the bulb. (I do often have onions survive the winter and grow, even ones that were very tiny and I missed them when I harvested.) If you want to try that, I would suggest doing some of your garlic that way, and some the recommended way, so you can compare the results.
I will say that I'm a little surprised that your garlic is only barely coming up as of yet... I'm not sure if that's the difference with the raised bed vs open garden, or ?? Also, I plant my garlic a good 3 inches down, if not 4 (and always has a lot of snow cover because the garden is next to our dog pen and we "snow-blow" the dog pen in that direction). Garlic does need good drainage, though...
Anyway, just sayin'...
on the other hand, if I believed "everything I have read" I probably wouldn't be trying to grow Creole garlic
