I am pretty sure the Crape is pretty legitimate.
Yep. Sounds good (I didn't check your local climate but if they grow like crazy there, that's a good thing)
The Gardenia? Quite frankly I got that because I just love the plant, knowing full well it is more of a bush than a tree.
It's not a problem that it's more of a bush.
it is either shade or sun, nothing really in between
You can fix that... for example making some kind of construction with shadow cloth. Not sure if that's needed.