By the way, how much sun does the yellow Lady Banks climbing rose need? I keep reading conflicting things. It IS a rose, so that seems like at least a few hours of direct sun. BUT: it blooms so early, does the pre-leaf sun count, or am I just whistling in the shade?

Okay, here I go again w/my endorsement of five leaf akebia (aka chocolate vine, a name I can't understand). Semi-evergreen, very fast grower, flowers beautifully in very early spring, twines by itself with no help - on a chainlink it would be very happy! It can be aggressive, but not invasive imo. I have hacked it back and hog tied it to lattice fencing and it just keeps on like the Energizer Bunny. Not sure about exposure requirements - I have akebias planted on the inside of fences facing East and West and both are doing splendidly on my side and my neighbors enjoy their share too. Five leaf akebia might be just what you need.

Lady Banks Rose - got those too. One on a retaining wall w/a Southern exposure, the other on afore mentioned West fence. Thornless and gorgeous in early spring - before shading trees leaf out - and one of the few in full bloom plants that sustained thru our Easter freeze. Hardy little specimen! Only downside is that LBR does have to be 'woven' constantly and sends out amazingly long shoots thruout the season so challenges my ability to climb the wall and cut 'em off. Small price to pay!

Hope ths helps ......

Hmmm .... reading back into your inquiry and my answer above - and settling down to actually look at my FLA and LBR it suddenly occurred to me that while not 'shade plants', both these species are, indeed, now deeply shaded in my yard and still doing splendidly.

All were first put in as part of the initial landscape plan which included 'bigger than twigs, but still affordable size' trees. The root bases and much of the vining foliage of the FLA and LBR are now in total shade as the trees have grown amazingly over five short years. And they're doing just fine.

Hope this sidenote helps.

one native that would do ok would be bignonia. you probably wouldn't get any flowers in the shade, but it would grown and cover the fence, and is evergreen. what about virginia creeper for the shady parts? not evergreen, but does get really pretty red color in fall. i bet carolina jessamine would grow in the shade, just not bloom, and again, mostly evergreen leaves. considered smilax? which is essentially cultivated greenbriar... thorny enough i doubt the deer would mess with it. pretty leaves & mostly evergreen. sweet autumn clematis will grow in the shade, just not bloom as well. it's not evergreen, though. that's all i can think of off the top. not sure about the deer proof ability of any of those. i think i'd plant a mix and let what does well with the deer & conditions take over.

Lady Banks would probably end up crushing your fence -- she gets very very big.

Alicia - ?huh? LBR can get pretty hefty, but crushing a chainlink? Two of mine are wired up on a timber retaining wall and present no challenge to the wall - the other is against my 4'slat 1' lattice fence and don't challenge that either. Is there something I don't know here, or maybe I'm just keeping mine pruned - they do need a bit of tough love.

Thanks to all.

Lady Banks can get canes as big as small tree trunks -- I've seen them grown on pergolas both at the JC Raulston Arboretum and the NC Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill. Even my Mermaid, which doesn't get canes nearly as big, has snapped 2 boards of my wooden fence. I've had that one 7 years. It snapped the first board 2 or 3 years ago. Chain link fences aren't all that substantial, so I wouldn't put a Lady Banks on it.