Hi there ! This spring I purchased a beautiful gardenia plant on a whim ! For someone like me, who can kill bougies, lantanas and bottlebrush, it was a "wild and crazy" thing to do ! However, Gracie (as I named her) has survived quite well...she lives in a large pot on my south facing covered deck, where she gets no direct sun, but plenty of bright light. The pot rests on a bed of small rocks in a plastic 2-3 inch high tray...In addition to keeping the tray filled with water, Gracie gets a sponge bath (spray) at least once a day...the tray is filled as needed, never allowed to go dry ! She stopped blooming when the temps hit 110 this summer, but is valiantly keeping her deep green leaves ! It's still rather warm here, with deck temps reaching around 110, no buds yet...but it is cooling down overnight into the low 80's, so fall is just around the corner ! I believe the humidity created from the rocky water tray, along with the daily spray (sometimes 3-4 times a day when temps go over 115, which is typical for Bullhead City)...and good ole epsom salts have kept Gracie's spirits up ! This is my first experience growing a gardenia plant, let alone growing one in the low desert ! But so far, knock on wood, Gracie's doing fine ! My next concern for her is "will she survive the overnight winter lows that we get, that have been known to drop below freezing ! Maybe I should start crocheting her a blanky !

I'd keep the gardenia over jackmanii myself. I'd just prune the clematis back and let it grow up into the sun as it wants too. A shrub in front of it should not bother it so much. Provided it gets enough water and fertilizer. None of mine are all alone in their locations....

I live in the very cold state of Massachusetts and one has survived in ground for me for two years. I got confident in February when it hit the 70's, uncovered it and it was killed. I was so upset. So I bought another two and planted them in ground again only to protect the until at least April! I do have several planted in ground in my greenhouse house too, doing very well. Here is a couple of pics I took the other day. They are much easier to keep happy than one may think, if you know what they like and can provide the basics to hold them over until spring. Once someone posts here, it will alert me in my e-mail on my Iphone, then I can post pics)

There are certainly some varieties with increased cold tolerance - Frost Proof, Summer Snow, Kleim's Hardy. But that is not the only factor involved - you must have appropriately acidic soil, good drainage, protection from winter winds and shade from afternoon sun. And gardenias are not the slightest bit drought tolerant, which could surely be an issue with our hotter and much drier summers. Would not be my first choice for a hedge in full sun. Just a bit too fussy to keep happy.