I have my arbor planted with Actinidia kolomikta and it's doing fine. Clematis 'Bee's Jubilee' grows through the kiwi. Around here, sweet autumn clematis becomes a dense thicket. The climbing hydrangea or Schizophragma hydrangeoides are both considered slow-growing good choices I think.

stressbaby:

Thanks for the suggestion -- I wasn't sure what a Schizophragma Hdr. was so I looked it up and I am impressed! I will definitely consider it. Here is a link to this beautiful climber:

http://www.greenbeam.com/features/plant101501.stm

Hi, Michelle! Congrats on your new arbor!

I'm a big fan of sweet autumn clematis, and actually planted one myself last summer, near the window of my den/library where I can enjoy it while I work. It's a gorgeous vine. However, I've heard mixed input on how big it will actually get in this area... it looks like I'll have some extra building to do in short order!

How do you feel about honeysuckle? It's easy to keep, nicely scented, and birds and butterflies love it. A lot of folks around here also love trumpet vine, but I'm a little biased against it... I grew up in southern IL, and it tends to be invasive down there.

Anyway, if you want to keep researching and decide you're not quite ready to install a permanent plant this year, you could always toss in a few climbing annuals to enjoy. Morning glories, moonflowers, black-eyed susan vines -- all beautiful, and tend not to be fussy. This would also give you a taste for how the finished project will feel, so it might help you further as you decide what you'd like to see out there.

Good luck!

Dutchman's Pipe.

You might also want to ask about zone 5 thornless roses on the Rose forum. Not all roses have them..or some have very small tender ones that aren't lethal.

Zéphirine Drouhin is a thornless, very fragrant pink rose. I don't have it, but its beautiful from the pics I've seen.

I've 2..grapes on one, and hummingbird vine on the other.Toni

How sturdy is your arbor? Some of them are full-blown heavy construction and some are more delicate -- that might make a difference in what you plant.

The first thing I thought of was clematis. The big trick is to give them sun and keep the roots cool -- seems contradictory but itÂs what they like and it works. The sweet autumn ones are one of my favorites (just be advised they attract lots of insects, if this is a place you'll be sitting). But there are lots of other lovely ones. I know care can sound confusing but it's just a question of getting the "type" clematis you want to care for -- I've included a link below that might help, or do a search on "clematis groups" for lots of information. You could even plant a couple of types -- a spring flowering one, and a summer flowering one, for example -- for more bloom.

If you do go with clematis, just be sure to mulch them heavily. They like cool roots and with that afternoon sun they'll grown well but appreciate the mulch. I grew Clematis 'Jackmanii' and 'Ramona' and against the recommendations, never pruned either one. They were both beautiful and thrived and bloomed heavily every year for over 15 years. I never fertilized, either. The only care I gave them was to water the first year, and to mulch the roots.

Another vine that would do really well is the perennial (not the annual) sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius). It takes the hot sun and loves to climb and blooms all summer until after frost. Comes up every year and except for a small amount of training and tying to support, requires no care. I love these and had one on my fence in hot sun and also up a trellis by a west-facing window. They attract bees so if thatÂs an issue you might not want them.

I also thought of trumpet vine but it tends to get huge, given the chance, and will send shoots up EVERYwhere, so if you decide to go with that, be sure you have a sturdy trellis and be prepared to mow down or cut down the dozens of shoots coming up all over the yard.

One summer I grew morning glory up a bird feeder post and it was gorgeous  it twined all over and bloomed like crazy. It would like your nice warm location, too. You might want to mix it with moonflowers for evening bloom if youÂll be enjoying the arbor late in the day. There are other fun annual vines, too  hyacinth bean and cardinal climber are two that come to mind, and scarlet runner bean, and also the tall (not the short) nasturtiums.

A fun project  enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: clematis info

Red Cardinal Flower is another climbing annual in these parts that would fill in this year and give you something this year while the other climbers are getting established.

Red Cardinal Flower is another climbing annual in these parts that would fill in this year and give you something this year while the other climbers are getting established.

Wow, I am impressed with all these great suggestions! Thanks to everyone who posted and especially to NinjaPixie and CarolAnn for such thorough replies.

And the winner is...CLEMATIS!!!

I had a hard time deciding between autmumn clematis and the regular pastel flowered kind so I bought both. I bought one plant of autumn clematis and planted it against my fence, since I didn't want to deal with bugs. Then I bought two 'H.F. Young' (blue flower) clematis plants to put on either side of the arbor. I will definitely mulch them. I also bought an akebia vine ('Leucantha') to provide extra foliage. Since all three of these won't do a whole lot for the first two years I am going to put a moonflower on there too. Told you I couldn't decide!!!

Some of the other vines mentioned sound divine to me and I am going to plant them in other spots around the yard. Now I need another arbor. :) Thanks for all the help and advice that was offered!

Michelle

I grew white sweet peas on mine last year and it was very pretty.

We have grapes on our arbor and they are just beautiful. They form a really nice dappled shade if they're kept trimmed, the leaves and tendrils are beautiful, and the fruit is just gorgeous. Plus - you get fruit. There are a lot of varieties that don't require spraying or mulching in zone 5, too. Red Canadice is a standout - gorgeous, seedless, very productive and disease-resistant, and really good as table grapes.