Ralph, i overwintered a bunch of them from my fair garden last year in pots. I wasn't sure if they'd be hardy planted so late so i didn't want to take the chance putting them in the ground. Since i used them this year as well, i plan to do the same thing again, along with some marginal sages. I left them in pots (or bags in the case of one) and put them in the basement along with my brugs, bananas and ee's and other stuff i don't have room for in the cool greenhouse that can take abuse. It stays barely above freezing, but we don't pay that much attention down there and i'm quite sure it drops below that sometimes. Normally it hovers around 50 degrees. We do try to run a space heater on really low if it's to drop into the teens (for our water pipes, too). There's 2 4' shoplights and a small window that provide a small amount of light. We water very infrequently, basically when we remember- which is about every 4 to 6 weeks. Most didn't go completely dormant, but lost some stalks. Some disappeared utterly, and i thought for sure they were dead, but they came back in spring. There was no signs of the tuber in one particularly, but it's fine now.

If i were you, i'd pot them, in sand if you're more attentive than me about water, soil otherwise, and maybe cut the stalks back by 1/2. If you let it get cold enough, they'll go dormant and you can pull off the foliage. I don't honestly know what the threshold is where they would die though. Wish i did.

That sounds like a mighty handy book! I know my gram in PA always overwintered her geraniums and other things in a basement window with no heat and one was probably 50+ years old! It had been her mom's before her. She kept the stuff extremely dry. I never got that knack- i tend to kill geraniums. Oh well.

Last year someone gave me tons of gingers (also cannas) to save for a plant sale in the spring. She had already dug them, so I received them bareroot and fairly dry. I wrapped them in newspaper, taped the bundle (several in one bundle) and put them in a cardboard box with a top. Then I stored them in the basement in a relatively dark corner. There is some residual heat there, but it probably gets down to 50 or so. Anyway, as soon as I potted up some to test them before the plant sale, they started sending up shoots. There is no guarantee, but maybe you could try this. Oh, don't forget to write what they are on the inside AND outside...it helps when you have so many to deal with.

I have also potted up ginger in gallon pots holding good potting soil and left them behind the shed. Leaves fell onto them and probably kept them somewhat insulated. They sent up new shoots in April.

I cut mine back to about 12-18" and store them in their pots in the garage. There's a window but they don't get the prime spots by the grow lights. I throw a little water on them once a month so they don't dessicate, but otherwise I pretty much ignore them. I tried some rhizomes wrapped in newspaper and boxed up once but they dried out and never sprouted.