Ann, I found this on the web for Sweet Laura:

Preferred Exposure: half to full shade
Preferred Soil: any average well drained
Other Information: Hardiest of the species

Ann - I hope you will let us know how well this does. I have been wanting to get it for quite some time and will be very interested to hear about it.

Thanks,
Frances

I planted mine yesterday. The stems had been cut back for shipping, but they had nice strong root systems. I will protect them from the bunnies and hope they live. I have tried two other times to grow them and had no success.

We've been growing them here for at least 5 years or longer.
I happen to like sweet Laura, but many do not. It probably has to do with the fact they grow taller than some of the hybrids.They are more inclined to sparsely spread and don't seem to clump as readily as most perennials. I let mine come up through shorter plants and bloom over them.

In more sub-tropical regions with loose sandy soil, they tend towards invasive. Our heavy clay soil keeps this to a slow creep at the worst.

I have them in various levels of shade and full sun. As long as there is weekly moisture, they seem to be happy in both places. Too much direct, dry heat will start to damage the leaves...so they probably prefer at least a few hours of shade.

The hybrids with the pinks,reds,purples, yellows and white blooms can be coaxed into returning by siting in some winter warmth. I've had probably 90% return for multiple seasons.
Sweet laura blooms once or twice sporadically, probably depending on moisture. The hybrids bloom almost continuously once they start. They're used commercially for cut flowers because they last so long after being cut.

A friend of mine went to the Park's sale and was even more disappointed than last year. I'm just curious what your experience was.