Am constantly suggesting,in this forum and others,especially for my zone, 7 and warmer,Gelsemium sempervirens. It has been vigorous but controllable,looking almost the same, year around.The Winter Sun bronzes mine up a little. Mine is in half day Sun and may not do as well in total shade. It may become top-heavy but mine is green and thick to the ground. An electric shearing every 3-4 years after bloom seems like enough to work with it's tendancy to mass at the top. Brief bloom of yellow flowers with some odor. Some sorts have double flowers.

Will passion vine grow in zone 4a as a perennial? I know that P. incarnata is one of the hardiest, but not sure it's hardy to that zone. If you try honeysuckle, try to get Lonicera sempervirens or a cultivar of it. They are gorgeous and attract hummingbirds, and will do fine in part shade. Also, Sweet Autumn Clematis would do fine on a chain link, too. It flowers in late summer to early fall, with masses of tiny white blooms that are very fragrant. Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain vine, and I think the name may have been changed by the all too underworked taxonomists), has mottled green/white foliage and produces berries that are purple, blue, white, hence the name "porcelain". It is in the grape family. Aristolochias are vines that do well in part shade, too. They are old-fashioned vines that people used to shade their porches way back when..... A. macrophylla would be the best for you (big leaf pipevine). You may also be lucky enough to get some pipevine swallowtails to lay eggs on them. They do flower, but rather the flowers are usually hidden by the huge heart-shaped foliage. It is called pipevine because the flowers are shaped like meershaum pipes. You could also use other clematis varieties that tolerate partial shade, but I find they do not really provide good coverage of a fence. While your perennial vines are growing and filling in, you can plant some annuals back there, like sweet peas. Those should do well for you in your climate, and there are so many different colors available on today's market. They usually flower in spring. I don't know if you will get a sustained period of heat long enough for morning glories to bloom in your zone. Canary flower would probably do well for you as it likes cooler weather. If I am wrong about passion flower or morning glories, please correct me. Susan

There are many wonderful vines - some perennial and some annual. For a well-behaved perennial I like sweet autumn clematis - it gets huge, covers itself in small white blooms and is fragrant. For an annual vine, you might like morning glories - there are so many pretty ones.

There are quite a number of wonderful perennial vines that grow in NH. (I am assuming that the NH in your user name indicates location, but if not these may not be good suggestions.) Some of the non-invasive honeysuckles include Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), European honeysuckle (L. periclymenum) and a couple of hybrids, Goldflame and Mandarin. Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler' last week There's a wide range of clematis available in sizes ranging from just a few feet to 15 feet or more, and they come in shades of purple, pink, reddish, and white. Clematis Mikelite late June Clematis Gravetye Beauty early July Clematis Prince Charles early July Clematis Venosa Violacea early July Clematis HF Young early June Clematis Ville de Lyon mid June The native pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla) is mostly a foliage plant, with large heart-shaped leaves and pipe-shaped flowers tucked into the foliage. It provides food for one of the types of swallowtail butterflies. Another vine that can be grown for foliage is hops, Humulus lupulus, which is another really large plant. Besides the various green forms that provide the hops for brewing and their ornamental value, there is a gold-leafed form. There's a great photo of mature hops vines in this thread. Climbing Hydrangea will grow in part to full shade and has white flowers in June. It gets to 20' or more if untrimmed and needs a surface to climb such as a masonry wall or tree trunk so I don't think would work for your chain link. Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) isn't great for a small garden as it is a large, vigorous plant, but is good for a woodland edge where it produces fruit for birds and has crimson fall foliage. It can be grown successfully on chain link fencing also. If you are interested in edible fruit, in addition to grapes, hardy kiwi vines produce clusters of grape-sized smooth fruit that taste just like tropical kiwis, but without the fuzzy coat. Both Kiwi and grapes will produce best with proper training. There are also various annual vines such as scarlet runner beans, sweet peas, and black-eyed Susan vines (Thunbergia) that you can plant between the perennial vines for a season or two while you wait for the perennial vines to get some size. Unless you have a really narrow area, you might also want to consider shrubs planted close enough to the fence so that some of the branches grow through the fence to help hide it. Hydrangea paniculata such as Limelight, Quickfire, or Vanilla Strawberry might work for this if the area is at least 7' wide.