Check out the DC tropicals in this blog post:
http://dctropics.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-midsummer-miscellany.html
Take a look at that gigantic brug!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dctropics/14618967729/in/photostream/
Doesn't it look like it's planted in the ground and overwintered outdoors? I know DC's a bit warmer than the suburbs, but how in the world did it survive last winter???
What gardening blogs do you read?
Wow, that thing looks like it's too big to move indoors. What is the zone hardiness of those things?
Brugs are generally listed as zone 8. The heart of DC is around 7b, but they definitely had a 7a winter.
DC row houses are pretty small so I doubt they have a place for that indoors.
A few possibilities---
1--The brick rowhouses can store some heat from the sun and so
protect the Brug. Looks like even the roots are no ore than a couple feet
away from the brick.
2--If seriously mulched--the roots of the Brug, in these conditions,
could survive the winter--even if the top died off.
I agree--this Brug looks like it is growing in there permanently.
G.