I have had a young POB in the ground for about four months. If I don't give it a soaking watering every day, it suffers in this weather. It's in sandy loam but on top of very gravelly soil that drains like mad, so you might need a bit less. I mean, water goes down and away very quickly in my soil.

Once it's established in a year or so it will get by with infreqent watering depending on if the ground gets any rain. With no rain maybe once a week watering will suffice, but when newly planted the roots are only the size of the pot it was in so in this drought you'll need to water it well every day like Gerald says. This dry ground wicks the water away very quickly.

It's a wonderful plant! Good luck!

You need a very well drain soil, I am personally not a big fan of Miracle Gro soils. With the hot summer we are having it is not a good time to fertilizing plants (Austin). Once establish the POB will need to be water once a week in the high summer. Right now with a new plant (small root system) I would water as often as needed. Do your best to let the soil dry out between watering, POB do not like wet feet. Generally speaking they are an arid plant and can survive on very little water. They are all over Arizona

I am always amazed that they sell us the plants only in summer which is the worse time to establish a plant. Good luck with the watering. Don't forget to mulch it come winter. It will still be a new plant and not really ready for winter. We are on the edge of its range so care for it once it gets cold.

I have a few "weed" pride of barbados plants (on the fence line, been there for eons, ignored...) I never ever water them and they grow like mad.

A few years ago (not a bad drought year) I planted some new POB plants. Those I did water every few days at first, then every week. Now, 3 yrs later, I don't touch them. They're stunning. Right now the only thing beside the plumbago full of flowers.

I am also in San Antonio, near downtown/SE. Our soil is also clay.

Be careful when planting in clay soils. Especially in our expansive clays. For the same reason that the stock tanks hold water so does the hole you dig for new plants. I lost many new plants before I figured out I was drowning them. I now raise my beds above the clay for good drainage during establishment and water daily during the weather we are experiencing. Once established they seem to need very little care.

novascapes is right you should put in french drains so that the water can run off and not just pool and rot the roots. Or as was said make a raised bed for good drainage.

I planted several POB under oaks with alternating sun and shade. That was 6 weeks ago.In the drought I have I watered every other day. Plenty of blooms at first but now none. What gives ? Not enough sun ? Too much water ? Fall dormant time ?

you've just made a nice bowl for your plant to sit in. Dig it out, mix your soil with some garden soil for flowers, take out the miracle gro, it will become a rock hard lump in our heat and drought. Dig up an area bigger than the plant will need, mix the soil well, this will prevent you from having a bowl in the clay that holds water and let your plant send roots into the surrounding soil. Otherwise it's just going to grow in that bowl and not send out roots into the harder soil around it.

Mine grows out by the street, it went through Hurricane Ike and was under 4' of salt water, it has received no water from the hose this year and is doing great. Once they establish roots you can ignore them, they are very, very drought tolerant. Mine is in full bloom and has been for months. It had 5 hummers on it yesterday.
The pink is not as hardy as the "normal".
Tally HO!