Oh Golly !!! I have just today bought a Virginal mock orange and am in trepidation having read all the postings on this site WOW!! what have I taken on?? I too was beguiled by the scent of MO....My shrub is tiny at present about 2feet tall and we have clayey oil but with leaf loam on top of that , so MO will have his toes in the cooling clay...We scattered some chicken poo pellets in the planting hole and watered well.Interesting point one person stated that you need 2x MO's to make sweet sweet music , mine is planted opposite my neighbours , That one is a single variety but it blossoms like great drifts of snowballs , so perhaps they will fall in love with each other ,( keep your fingers crossed ).Sooooooo , we have watered it well and left it with kind encouraging words falling on it's leaves ( it is not in blossom either , YUK , how negative! )It is facing south westerly and will get the sun from approx 10am around to 4pm every day , so it won't be cooked all day long , it is next to a Buddleia "Black Knight " so the butterflies will hopefully make it feel nice and wanting to grow!! I hope everyone out there in Gardenland will think a communal positive thought for my little bare MO to flourish here across the Atlantic in sunshiney England! I will keep you posted ~ watch this space!!!! :)

>> spoonplayer: Long story short, the neighbor is still clueless (I don't want to damage our neighborliness) but I do need to keep him out of my yard. I may put a sign on the gate asking people to enter at the front...that may send a subtle "keep out" message. Or "Beware of Dog" but I would have to follow up by getting a dog. I can tell you something from my own "bad neighbor" experience: SUBTLE DOESN'T WORK - EVER. My next door "neighbor" used to let her dog come into my fenced in yard to poop. So I put a lock on the gate she was entering thinking "that will send a message to keep out". So she went to the gate at the back of my yard! AGAIN, when you're dealing with BAD NEIGHBORS, SUBTLE DOESN'T WORK. I now have locks on all 3 of my gates. And I told her to keep her dog out of my yard if I ever forget to lock a gate. I said it nicely but I was very, very clear.

The one I had at my old house was planted at the northeast side, it got almost no direct sun and its new growth was spindly. It got attacked by aphids a lot. Still bloomed nicely. I have two in my current yard and they don't get aphids at all. Because they all came with the house I don't know what kind they are/were but they are hardy and double flowered and very smelly. I have NEVER had problems with hardiness but I'm pretty sure some Far Northers have had dieback or lost them. This is planted at the southeast side, gets hot pm sun. It was just starting to bloom in this pic, it's nicer later. The left side is a spirea. This is its little brother that I have been pruning into a lightbulb because it's next to the sidewalk. Not sure what to do with it. This was the old house:

Wolfy, Did you water it on a regular basis? You state that you dug it up last spring, amended the soil, why? Is your soil bad? Do weeds grow in it? Until a plant, shrub or tree is at least 3 years in th ground in the same spot, it is not established. SO, your time is counting now since last spring since you dug them up and replanted them. You have to water these shrubs regularly. AT least once a week when it is hot. If you haven't skipped on watering them regularly, then there is another problem. Be honest with yourself as to how diligent you were in watering them. Another reason besides not watering them regularly is you planted them too deep in the ground. Go outside and check to make sure the stems are above the soil line.There should be no dirt up to the stems. That is a major reason a shrub or tree won't grow. My money is on underwatering. Water them extra now and see if it helps.