I garden for butterflies and hummingbirds along the upper Texas Gulf Coast in Zone 9a and growing Butterfly Bushes in the garden has been a challenge for me. I have heavy clay soil and we get 50 inches of rain (on average) a year. But, we can also get significant rain events with tropical storms and hurricanes. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017 my area received 41 inches of rain over 3 days! Yikes! Our wettest months are May through October. Butterfly bushes do not like wet feet. I have tried planting them in elevated beds and raising them above the soil level so the water will "drain" off their crown. They have not preformed well until I started planting them in pots.