I'm in the mountains of SW va, Z 6A, and there's a hops vine at the base of the deck that comes back strong year after year. It twines up cord we run down to the ground (12 feet). When it gets its head in the sun, it sprawls over the corner of the deck. Very lush and pretty.

We don't get tops -- you must have male and female plants for that -- but as a perennial foliage vine it's great. As you dream up a trellis, include plenty of uprights, because hops needs to twine.

Here is a link that might be useful: my website

I'd say success is pretty much guaranteed :-)) This is a very hardy and extremely aggressive vine and once established, can put on 25' of growth a season. I grew the golden form, Humulus lupus 'Aureus', which is generally considered purely ornamental and offers bright chartreusey-gold leaves. It is a female form (most varieties sold are female) and it does produce hop flowers without benefit of a male plant.

A couple of words of caution. It will send out underground runners that will pop up as additional vining stems. I removed my vine several years ago and unfortunately left enough rootstock so that shoots remain a problem. I would also consider planting away from a heavy traffic area - the long, very rapidly growing shoots it produces are covered with stiff barbed hairs that grab and hold on to passersby. This is how the plant climbs and holds on to its supports (it is a "bine" rather than a true vine). That was the main reason I removed mine - too close to a walkway and it tangled with my dogs and me. The stems can actually tear skin if entangled sufficiently. It also engulfed any nearby plantings.