i have hardy kiwi growing. i can't speak as to how much the actinidia kolomikta (arctic kiwi, nice variegation) kind flowers, but it may not be as much as the regular hardies, and i don't think they get as big, but they do prefer partial shade. you probably don't want a regular hardy (a. arguta)- they are large vines that like to take over. they only bloom for a couple weeks in spring and i haven't noticed them being especially bee magnets. they do smell good, but you'd have to prune them 3x a summer to keep them in bounds on something that small. the fruit is yummy, though. issai would be the exception for the argutas- it's less vigorous, and as a bonus bears edible fruit without a mate. there's another kind called silver vine or something like that but i don't know much about it. fuzzies are as large and hardies, but more prone to frost damage. the vines have nice heart shaped leaves with red petioles. the problem is they put out around 20' of growth a year, and need a strong trellis- they are heavy. kiwis are not evergreen, either. aristolochias have nice foliage and neat flowers when they come, as does hydrangea vine, but i think both prefer partial shade and both are deciduous. remember, not everything that blooms will draw tons of bees. have you considered a rose? they are semievergreen here, there are lots that rebloom and are less care, and even some that are not so thorny (like lady banks, but i don't think it reblooms). i have a trellis that i walk through all the time with pink pillar, work of art and a rose colored honeysuckle on, and bees have never been an issue for me (and pink pillar is quite thorny). my conditions are similar to yours- it gets hot late aft sun and they've done well. vines & blooms will tend to be on the outside to get more sun, so i don't think that's as much of an issue as it could be, especially if you plan for it to be wide enough to accomodate the width of the vines when they've bushed out and still have room to walk. consider that you may want to mix a few things to get a variety of blooms, bloom time and foliage. that way you can kinda have it all. try to look at it as a fun choice, not a hard decision.

Sattelite, if you don't want your carolina J, and nobody else wants it, I'd take it for Holy Comforter over in Ormewood. I have a trellis that needs something on it. I love coral honeysuckle. It's on my telephone pole (which I have permission to do!!) It grows at a more moderate rate, at least Blanche Sandiman does. It is rarely ever out of bloom, Hummers dig it the most, it's easy to cut back and doesn't go haywire. GGG

Wow, thanks everyone for the warm welcome, great suggestions, and wonderful pictures. Brian, I had a similar experience with some honeysuckle left over from the folks we bought the house from. They had 2 separate wood piles that were unidentifiable and a dog kennel that was nearly as bad because they had let the honeysuckle go. I believe it was the Japanese honeysuckle Dawn referenced. I think the passionflower is a lovely, unique looking flower and may well be worth experimenting with in the right location, at worst I may feed some caterpillars, right? Lisa and Ilene, great pics. I have a couple clematis vines planted in different areas and they are not yet as established as yours are. I look forward to them filling out and blooming like the ones in the photos you both posted. Lisa, I am a little further south than the Westville area and everyone thinks it's too far out in the middle of nowhere. My Mom moved down with me, this is were she grew up, and she went to school with all our neighbors. We all tell one another, that we live just far enough away from each other for the peace and quiet (about 1/2 a mile), yet close enough if we need each other. I have loved it down here since I was young and visiting and I'm glad I was finally able to get settled here. Dawn, I have one crossvine and have wished since I had gotten more than one. It was kind of a late season save from the nursery and was a little sickly, so I didn't get many blooms, but it grew tremendously well. I know they bloom fairly early in the spring, are they one and done or do they continue to bloom off and on throughout the summer? I have to say I'm quite intrigued by the cypress vine. If I were to plant it or some of the other mentioned annuals in containers, how big of a container would be sufficient? I have a couple of areas were having something container grown would be excellent. I have this small windmill... and a small trellis at the birdbath.... This is one of the arbors I mentioned initially, I have one on each side of the driveway/carport. It is where some of my hummingbird feeders hang. I have bee balm planted in the bed underneath. For the replacement, I can't decide weather to build wooden arbors or go with a cattle panel arbor. Any pros or cons, suggestions? I also have this trellis out by the building [ pardon the sat dish, did you know when you need a new one they don't take the old one? I do, now : )]. I think I would like to have something here that would still provide some structure and maybe a little cover for the birds in winter. I have strongly considered one of the red honeysuckle varieties here. I do worry a little about powdery mildew, then I see pics like the one Ilene shared and I worry a little less. I have browsed pictures for most of the recommendations and it makes me want to find other places to fit vines into the yard. As for the cypress vine and the hyacinth bean, is it better to start seeds inside, or sow outside and let them go on their own? Thanks again, everyone.

Hi All - First posting here. I stumbled in here, after searching for info on ground cover that grows rapidly and vertically. I live in the Metro Atlanta area, specifically about 30 minutes SW of the airport in Newnan. Our lot slopes up from the street, and our back yard has always been nearly non-existent. It went back maybe 10-15 feet, was uneven, and full of rocks. I had someone come in and do some grading to get a fairly flat surface, and 15-20 feet from the back of the house, so we could actually use part of the back yard. One spot was used to put a cheap pool (You can see it's still filling in the pic). Grading is a lot cheaper than building retaining walls, so that's not in my plan, at least not for a year or two. What I want to do is find something that I can plant at the base of this vertical slope (the loose dirt will be removed), and have it grow up the slope vertically, and hopefully root into it as it grows, to aid in holding it in place. Ultimately, I'd like it to continue to the upper part which has always been weeds, and cover that, choking out the unattractive weeds, and making it more maintenance free. It sounds like Confederate Jasmine may be what I'm looking for. As you can see in the picture, I am surrounded by hard, compacted clay, and to make it more fun, it's probably the rockiest soil I've seen here, and I've been in this area most of my life. How long do you think it would take Confederate Jasmine to grow to the top of the bare area (maybe 7' at the corner peak)? This area is in full Sun from maybe 11AM till just about dusk each day. Would it grow straight up, or would it fan out and grow up and out at the same pace? Should I plant it just at the base? How far apart should I plant it, and how is Confederate Jasmine sold? Thanks in advance!