Needs lots of mulch, especially in Z9. Lack of it makes the soil dry out easily and this promotes wilting episodes (which many hydrangeas will have especially in Year 1). If you mulch it, the number of days between waterings should also incease. Since you have sandy soil in some areas of FL, consider watering 50% more than you would otherwise. For a new shrub, 1 gallon per watering is ok but I would use 1.5 gallons if your soil is sandy.

The leaves have some type of fungal disease but it is not clear which. Cercospora leaf spot probably. The leaves need to be thrown into the trash when they dry out in December/January. The flowers too. Overhead watering usually triggers this infection so try to water the soil instead early in the mornings. Plant debris should also be thrown away in the trash. See the link below for more info.

There is some Crape Myrtle debris on the shrub that can be disposed of too. My CMs are dropping/throwing away lots of plant stuff now too.

You did not mention what insect is afoot on the CMs so I am going to guess.

Over here, aphids are common. They can cause sooty mold and attract ants that way/ To combat them, you can use insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils (think: Neem Oil).

Scale has also been present here on some years. Imidacloprid shows good control when applied between May and July as a drench to the root zone.

Sooty mold from CM insects can also end up on the hydrangea leaves so addressing problems with the CM can help the hydrangea too.

There could be other insects/snails at work. You have to monitor the shrub and look so you can find them, identify them and apply appropriate action for that type of insect. Check during the day but also during the night. Peek under the leaves. Look under small rocks in the soil too.

Overall, the shrub does not look too bad for Year 1. Last thought - do not overwater if it rains so often. Insert a finger to a depth of 4" on the soil and water the soil if it feels dry or almost dry. If you see it wilting and the soil is moist, leave it alone and recheck in the morning. It should recover on its own by then (sometimes soon after the sun goes down). I usually ck mine in the mornings during the summer and water early if they look sad. Just had to do that yesterday as a matter of fact since summer lasts a long time here.

Here is a link that might be useful: ACES Diseases of Hydrangea

I'm not sure which zone 9 you are in but I am also in zone 9 Northern California so I figured I'd chime in.

I water my hydrangeas using drip only twice a week in the very height of summer (think 90s to 100+). And it took me a while to figure out that I need to water them deeply at each watering, which for my zone is about 1.5-2 gallons of water per plant. Using the drip ensures that all the water soaks in since it is slowly released over a period of an hour rather than all at once which causes runoff. If you don't have drip, use a watering can or hose at the base of the plant only.

They don't do well if you keep their roots constantly wet though, so watering every day sounds like overkill to me. I'd guess you are watering too much based on the fact that there is nutsedge growing close to your plant(which needs moist conditions to survive). Make sure to pull that out, along with any other weeds that might compete for nutrients.

Also, if your zone 9 is as dry as mine is, your plants will benefit from a weekly shower from a hose. Just wash off their foliage all over, including the undersides of the leaves, to avoid dealing with things like spider mites which thrive in dry conditions. I've had an issue with those in the past... The weekly overhead shower won't cause fungal problems because the leaves don't stay wet for too long, but wetting the leaves daily WILL produce the right condition for fungus which might be what you have.