They like partial shade. To much sun can cause problems with lace bugs, and too much shade will give you nice green plants with no flowers. So partial shade is best. 1/2 sun and 1/2 shade is ideal. They could take a little more shade if necessary.

Girard's Pleasant White tends to have a spreading habit -- growing wider than tall, layered rather than compact -- so it looks more natural as a landscape shrub than as a clipped foundation plant. That's another reason (besides the pH that was mentioned) that you might want to keep these azaleas a little farther away from the house.

The Pleasant Whites have been very hardy and problem free for me, so you should have a good choice for your first foray into growing azaleas.