I live in south Orange County. I have a Clematis montana "Grandiflora" that is encouraged to ramble up a pine tree. It is one of my favorite vines! Beautiful 3-4" white flowers cover it for several months in the spring. Not a hint of mildew on the leaves, unlike some other clematis I've grown. Very quick growing and pest free. I pruned it heavily after flowering, and it is almost as large as it was before the whack. BUT, as stated above, vines on chain link fences are a maintenance challange. I'd avoid the trumpet vine, jasmine and silver lace vine as those all like to grow top-heavy. The star jasmine has tough stems; I've heard tales of it being very difficult to free it from the chain link because it requires a lot of pruning and unwinding to free it. (My skin reacts to star jasmine sap, so I avoid growing it. Therefore, not much first-hand with this one). Have you considered an espallier? I'd recommend something like lavender starflower. It is a tough, easy-to-grow shrub that looks good year-round. The leaves are an attractive green and the flowers are a hit with butterflies and hummingbirds. The stems branch in a flat pattern, making it a natural for espaliers. Quick growing once it gets started. An espalier would be less maintenance that a vine. This post was edited by Gyr_Falcon on Mon, Sep 9, 13 at 15:45

Neither sweet autumn clematis or virginia creeper are evergreen. An easy one for me that in warm winters keeps a few leaves and is long blooming is the native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler'. In your zone it may keep enough leaves to be considered evergreen. There are other selections as well with various warm-colored flowers, but I don't know if they bloom for as long. Choose a selection that is disease resistant since a few selections are prone to foliage diseases. You may want a different vine for the shady area. Some other evergreen vines that might work: Gelsemium sempervirens, especially the cultivar Margarita. Clematis armandii gets quite large, so might need some guidance to grow along the fence Ones to avoid since they can spread far too vigorously, either via seed or through rooting include ivy/Hedera helix and wintercreeper Euonymus.

Fan the branches out from near the ground during the early stages or you will end up with nearly all the growth bunched up at the top of the fence. This needs to be done with all climbers in such situations, and not just this kind. The purpose of a climbing growth habit is to be able to get and stay in the light, with many climbing plants continuing to try and reach up as high as possible regardless of the setting. Because of the unending need for pruning and training that this growth behavior creates - when non-dwarf climbers are used to furnish confined and/or defined spaces like fences, walls and other less than capacious architectural features - I've come to the conclusion that most of the time the other-than-highly-dedicated should be planting free-standing shrubs in such places.

It is In a relatively Shady area, with cherry trees. Put down a small tree trunk along it to minimize weeds, ivy from the neighbors and was planning on hosta. Would Liriope between the fence and the hosta look good or not? Also thinking of ajuga as ground cover to suppress the weeds.