I would love some more information before making suggestions. What is the possibility that you might rake aside the gravel in the spots you want to plant, loosen the soil, and create a raised bed perhaps 6" deep with better soil and then mulch on top of it, basically a bottomless planter of some type? It will make watering easier and allow the plant to extend roots into the native soil. Could you "plant" your trellis in the soil or does it have to be restricted to the planter? Are you handy enough to create your trellis with something such as 4"x4" posts with wire mesh fastened on or rebar teepees, or will you rely on commercially available trellises which tend to be relatively small?

Can you add a photo? It is difficult for me to envision all the variables such as building material, which will effect microclimate and depth of shade, and building height and area of yard, both of which will influence vine size/effectiveness, etc. Also, is the morning sun 3 hours, 6 hours, or something in between based on surrounding buildings, trees, etc.? Most Clematis will bloom with 6, but not 3 hours of sun. Does the amount of sun vary according to where you are in the yard? Can you grow directly on the buildings or does it have to be on a trellis?

Thanks for the response. Here are a couple pictures I took around 10:30am. (It's a..."work in progress" building, shall we say. Please don't judge too harshly!)

This is a closeup of the edge where the trellis would go. For all I know, there's just a neverending layer of empty plastic cups under the gravel...there's some kind of rose bush that I should probably get rid of, but I don't have high hopes for this space.

From this point, everything slopes downward toward, first, a highway, and then the water, so there's nothing obstructing the sun from that direction. There is a lot of shade from the building itself though. Looking at the shadows I guess it's not exactly east-facing: I was going by the street directions.

I guess my goals are to minimize my own effort and just try to get something passable, since this is never going to be a beautiful space!

I do have some vines in barrels. Vines that, on my property, are hopeless renegades. And even with them stowed in barrels, the seeds could bring more distress. These vines do fine, growing in barrels. The Porcelain Berry and Trumpet Vine.

I also grow Jasminium stephanense in a smaller container, so I can move it to a prominent place, when in bloom. Have done the same with Morning Glory, Scarlet Runner Bean, Hyacinth Bean and Cypress Vine. All do well.

Bogturtle, will all those do OK with an east facing exposure with the building to both the south and west? That's what I've been noodling on, trying to think of vines that will do well with only a few hours of early morning sun. IME all those in your last paragraph like a good amount of sun, though I think the porcelain berry/Ampelopsis brevipedunculata and the Trumpet Vine/Campsis radicans grow fine in part shade. However, procelain berry is a listed invasive - the birds eat the berries and poop out the seeds in wild areas where they take over from native plants, so I wouldn't plant that. Jasminium stephanense isn't hardy enough for zone 6, even in the ground.

Fishmato, for perennial vines in a container in zone 6, you will want plants hardy to about zone 4 since the increased exposure of the container will be harder on the plant's roots than those in the ground where the large mass of soil will reduce the likelihood of freeze/thaw and extreme temperature swings around the roots. Wrapping the container in bubble wrap for the winter may help, but is rather homely. There are extruded foam containers (usually fake ceramic in appearance) that I have seen in places like the big box stores which might provide better insulation than a half barrel, and can be found with large volume, so you might want to consider some of those, especially if you mulch the top of the container as well. If you fall in love with one that isn't that hardy, you might be able to move it against the building and cover it with row cover for the winter, but soil-filled containers are heavy to move. I am assuming that for the growing season you want to place the containers behind the line of edging so that the cars aren't bumping into them. I would still investigate what is below the gravel to see if it is possible to rake it aside, improve some soil, and plant in the ground as it will be both easier care and hardier. If it were mine I would also get rid of the gravel and use a heavy layer of bark mulch on top of either multiple layers of newspaper or corrugated cardboard. It will keep the weeds down much better than gravel, and what weeds to grow will be easier to remove.

You could check out some of the shade tolerant clematis. Here's a list of ones I know are commercially available in the US, hardy to zone 4, and will tolerate some shade: Ville de Lyon and Guernsey Cream (both of which I grow in part shade), John Paul II, John Warren, Louise Rowe, Nelly Moser, Amethyst Beauty-Evipo043, Carnaby, Claire de Lune AKA Blue Moon, Diamantina-Evipo039, Ekstra, and Hagley Hybrid AKA Pink Chiffon. There are most likely others as well.

Other vines I have grown in part sun include Apios americana AKA ground nut, which will provide green leaves for most of the season, but in late summer will have clusters of unusual deep red flowers for a short time. It spreads vigorously via runners in the ground, but shouldn't be an issue in a pot. Trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens may do OK, though it won't bloom as much in more shade as it will in full sun. Mine (L. sempervirens 'Major Wheeler') gets good sun all morning until 1-2 PM and then bright shade from a building. It looks like the photo below in spring, but then has at least some blooms until hard freeze. Both these two are natives.

I don't know if Actinidia kolomikta needs more sun than you have, but it is said to tolerate part shade. You can look at Aristolochia macrophylla or A. tomentosa, both of which tolerate some shade. The blooms are fairly unassuming, but these have the potential to get huge, perhaps too large for a container.

You can also consider some taller plants in containers that aren't vines, but are tall or bulky. There are some quite large coleus plants that can get 3 feet tall and wide and will tolerate full shade. If planted in a tall container, they would make a good visual block if planted between a chair and the parking lot and you can cut sprigs in the fall to root and overwinter indoors as small plants for spring replanting. Check out some of these dense and tall shade-tolerant perennnials, most of which like consistent moisture and don't want to dry out: queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), or perhaps one of the taller and more mildew resistant bee balm/Monarda types such as Jacob Cline, though it may need more light than you have available.

Finally, you could ask over on the shrub forum for medium height shrubs that might do well in a container in part shade. For instance, I am wondering if there might be enough light for one of the mid-sized Hydrangea paniculata such as Quickfire since they have a long bloom period.