Mary Stella, the hardneck varieties are for you, in your climate. I also plant my onions at the same time I plant my garlic, mid-October. I also plant another crop of onions in February/March. Onions will bolt in hot weather so you really want them to grow in the cooler months. Your planting time might vary up to a month though. Call your County Extension Service and they can tell you when to plant different things.
As you know, we here in the deep south had a horrible, cold winter. Way out of the norm. I did cover my garlic and onions with 6-8" of oak leaves during the coldest months, but then blew them off the plants in early March. I have no ideas whether the leaves helped, it's just something I do. All my garlic and onions look great.
Ken
