Though they say that Alpinia (Shell Ginger) will overwinter in zone 7 the plants suffer greatly and look awful the next year. They do much better if you dig them up and put them someplace warm and sunny for the winter. They hate being houseplants - so a greenhouse is best. If you don't have a greenhouse then putting them in a room that is cool and damp is the next best thing. Keep them on the dry side during this long winters nap. Many people rig up shop lights in the crawlspace under their houses and store tropicals such as gingers there. Put the lights on a timer for at least 12 hours on/12 hours off. Most house's crawlspace's stay pretty warm.

I don't live anywhere near where your sister lives so I can't tell you how much of a winter she might experience. I imagine it is way colder and wetter than Raleigh.

There are many well-behaved bamboo species. It all depends on how big you want it to get and whether you want fancy leaves or fancy stems. All of them cost a lot of money. The inexpensive ones or the dig-your-own out of the ditch varieties are garden thugs that want to take over the world. They look nice but are impossible to get rid of once you plant them.

hi john,

thanks for the info.
cliff