Best I can tell, it really likes wet conditions in the summer, but needs good drainage for winter survival here, 300 miles north of you-My first attempt, I planted them at grade and they never came back- 2nd attempt I dug in a lot of coarse sand to create a raised basin area and watered a lot in the summer, they came back this year and are about 10' tall now - we've been flooding since February-Selection from PDN- Hope this is helpful-