I have silver lace vine that grows wonderfully. I live in Burlington Ontario so I know it is winter hardy. It is a very quick growing vine but can be kept under control with hard pruning. A clematis might take awhile to accomplish covering the whole area. You could always plant Hevenly Blue Morning Glory at the opposite base and have them grow together Im not sure if the Silver lace would over take the morning glory but they would look lovely together.

Laura

We have a similar situation with a pergola. I have planted clematis (probably way too many!). Not all clematis grow long climbinb vines, so you need to be careful about the variety. I will try to link the website I used to research specific varieties.

I almost bought silver lace, but decided against it after some research on the net. It is invasive where I live, so works best on fences away from major structures. Also, it loses its lower leaves during the season so the lower part can look ratty. It might work better in your climate assuming the winter would do more hard pruning for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis website

Hey prism99,

My choice is clematis but only to frame the entrance way over the pergola with each colour you like. One purplish and the other blue purplish or you could mix white with one these colours.
The other option which can been removed are fabric in the same colours you have chosen which are lightly weaved over the beams of the pergola.They can be cut to any width of fabric and sew together.Measure the length and add enough to flow over side after last loop over pergola. This gives you some shade, some light and flowers to view and without little creatures falling down.

They can be washed at the end of the season for next summer.

Lynne