Need help w/ my Gardenias

I had some that had transplant shock for almost 3 years. Looked great going in, then to shite, despite fert and plenty of watering. I eventually gave up on them and was planning on replacing them. Then, miraculously, in a drought no less, they all perked up and look great now without me doing anything, not even watering them.


ETA- August Beauties is the breed

Planted 10 scent amazing gardenias about 3 years ago. Had to replace 7 or 8 of them after the first year or two but since then all 10 are thriving now. Not sure what changed.

Gardenias are finnicky as hell. I have several radicans on the side of my house. They get sun until about 1pm and are protected from the afternoon sun. I've replaced half of them already and I told myself that if the replacements didn't make it, I was ripping them out and replacing them with something lower maintenance. I have 3 august beauties on the other side of the house that are doing okay, but the radicans seem weak.

I love them. They were my dad's favorite shrub plant and I like the smell of the flowers a lot. That said, I've had it with these radicans variety. What really doesn't make sense is that half of them are doing totally fine and the other half look like shite. They're all planted in good raised bed soil, all fertilized the same way, I try to keep the pH down, and they're all irrigated. Makes zero sense to me.

I get the yellow leaves when too much water. Keep an eye on that. They sound like they’ve been there a while to root.