2 hours is fine for the rose of sharon, but most of the others would prefer a bit more sun than that. what sort is it?

I have one in deep shade under a beech tree and it is fine.

Hypericum calycinum is the one that does pretty well in shade - Hypericum 'Hidcote' prefers at least half a day's sun.

The Rose of Sharon is very happy in deep shade, part shade and in full sun. In my garden it is everywhere and I really don't know where it started from
Maleny

I've grown a lot of the various hypericums and all in differing levels of light.
In my own experience they've done well everywhere - but we can only speak from experience.

Thank you for all your advice - I hit the flag button thinking it meant I liked the comment - sorry! I will buy a Hypericum calycinum when I go to the garden centre. I will however have another look at the Rose of Sharon. - Complete_beginner.

Complete beginner, there is a tendency for some folk to use common names only - just so that you're not totally confused, Rose of Sharon is the common name for Hypericum, H. calycinum in particular, but gets used for all of them. Don't bother to learn it, it's a waste of time - Hypericum is the name to remember, comes in several different varieties, H. calycinum and Hidcote being two of them - learn the proper names, then you'll never end up with the wrong plant, lol! Interestingly, in some parts of the world, Rose of Sharon is also applied to at least one other, completely different, plant - can't remember what it is now.

Ah yes, i remember that one too, Bamboo, and like you can't remember which plant it was !

;-))

Sorry I said Rose of Sharon.I didn't know it also applies to other varieties. Only plant hypericum calycinum if you have the space. It takes a couple of years to settle down and then its off everywhere. I think the faded flowers look very untidy, and so do the leaves as summer progresses and when I had one I was glad to get rid of it. I wonder if you might be happier with a euphorbia robbiae - that spreads too but it stays looking green and tidy, and has bright yellow-green "flowers" in early spring that last a long time. It will grow in shade and very dry conditions and I have some flourishing directly under a big conifer, which is an achievement for any plant! Its only drawback if you have the room for it to spread is that the milky white sap is very irritating if you should get it in your eye. Which is after all a bit unlikely!