I have found both trumpetvine and porcelain berry (Amelopsis), too vigorous for planting on a deck fence but am very pleased with Lonicera 'John Clayton, L. magnifica and 'Alabama Crimson'. I do not like the color of the normal L. periclymenum 'Serotina' and have not had success with L. 'Mandarin' but they may work. My L. periclymenum 'G.S.Thomas', being yellow, sounds great, but it is a tiny plant still. Eventually, I think I will have to prune out dead material or otherwise spend time on almost any vine that comes to mind. Consider that my successes have been in zone 7. I am also having success with Clematis 'Polish Spirit' and C. montana 'Grandiflora' but the latter blooms on old wood and so may not succeed in your zone. I have one plant of the autumn blooming white Clematis that I have been trying to destroy as long as I have lived here and still I found a single sprout last week.

Thanks for the advice! I will have to google all those, and see what I can get.

--Carolyn

I put a perennial hops vine (Humulus lupulus "Aurea") at the foot of my porch stairs, and it has been twining up the ballusters over the summer. Eventually, it will cover the rails too. It has a great chartreuse color, if you like that bright accent. It does well wit rich, moist soil and plenty of sun, but can take part shade as well.

Hmm, I have well-drained, very sandy soil. It needs a lot of amending!

--Carolyn

Hops will tolerate sandy soil if you ammend it. It's easy to ammend soil by adding lots of good compost each spring and fall. On the North Shore, we have lots of clay soil, which I have to add sand for drainage. It all evens out. :)

You might also want to try one of the decorative grape cultivars - there's a new one of Vitis vinifera...the European grape that wine is made from... that has purple-red leaves. It isn't as aggressive as the native grapes here, and you can train them by pruning and using the deck as a trellis.

No one addressed your question regarding moonvine. My problem with this beautiful plant is that I have no greenhouse to give it a good start, so I wind up with it finally blooming about Sept. first or later. Where I worked there was a greenhouse at my disposal and I would start the plants in Late January to March and got a great leap in early bloom. A patient person can actually sit down at dusk and watch the flower open and you might be sitting on the deck anyway just in conversation or at a late supper. It is, of course, an annual and I never to seeds from plants I had bloom.

Another good one is jasminum x stephanense - grows vigorusly, but easy to keep in bounds, produces clusters of pink tubular flowers that hummingbirds love, and is fragrant.

In the heavily shaded area, you could try aristolochea - the hardy ones. They get large leaves and have flowers shaped like a meershaum pipe. They also attract the pipevine butterfly larvae, beautiful swallowtails.

For brighter areas, passiflora incarnata or ceurulea (blue) would look beautiful and they are vigorous growers, with gorgeous flowers, and they attract the gulf fritillary butterfly larvae.

Susan

I start moonflower vine indoors in March/April in peat pellets & plant outside in May. If you nick the seeds a little they will germinate faster.
It is a fast grower & requires practically no care.
It is blooming right now & is beautiful.
I don't know about sandy soil? Maybe someone else could help there?
But, if you like I would be happy to send you some moonvine flower seeds (I still have some from 2004)
Send me an e-mail if you are interested.