Carolina jessamine would be a good vine to cover a fence. Click on the link below to see a photo of it from the TAMU site. Click on vines, then click on the vine you want to look at to see the photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carolina Jessamine

What about honeysuckle? Not the Japanese type; where I come from it is a pest. But, there's another. Doesn't have the wonderful scent and the blossums are red. How does this plant do in Tyler area?
I also have grown Hyacinth Bean (in zone 6) and you can practically see it growing, it's so fast. Not hardy here, but easy to gather seeds. What does it do there?
I would imagine in your heat zone almost any plant would love dappled shade.

Lady Banks roses come to mind - not always evergreen but a real show most of the year.

Coral honeysuckle is what I think hergrammy is thinking of. Definitely do not use the invasive Japanese honeysuckle. It got so heavy on a neighbor's fence, that it rotted underneath and fell down in a light wind. It has also escaped gardens and is taking over native vegetation. Coral honeysuckle is native to Texas, so should do okay over there in East Texas. It is semi-evergreen, which means it loses some of the leaves, but not all.

Found the tag in my book. It is called Lonicera sempervirens 'Blanche Sandman'. zones 4-9. It is a very nice, well-behaved, dependable vine. Have had it for four years and moved it twice but it doesn't mind. Very drought tolerant and likes sun or part shade. Recent hard freeze (Easter, 17 degrees) did not faze it.
No, no don't ever plant the Japanese honeysuckle (altho we love the scent). It is too invasive.

oh thank you so much!!!! so how many should i plant to cover about 100 feet of fence? how long will it take to cover it?

The Caroline Jasmine I planted grew fast and was beautiful, BUT it got root rot and died, basically over night. I tried it two times in two locations with the same result.
I have Crossvine on an arbor in my yard. It stays green all winter and blooms heavily in the Spring.
Coral Honeysuckle is also a good choice.
Good luck. Happy gardening, taterbug

It looks wonderful and adds nitrogen to the soil, and when the other things are big enough the bean will fade into the background. Buy one pack, soak the seeds, and plant-it will cover the fence in no time.

mchpumpkin, I bought a small carolina jessamine plant in 2004 and planted it by one of my fences. It was about 18 inches tall at the time. It's now about 4 feet tall and has spread (with my help in training it) about 5 feet across the fence. It hasn't covered it in that area but it sure does look great! And it smells wonderful. :)

Here are pictures of the two carolina jessamines I have. They were both planted in 2004 when they were about a foot tall. The first one is now growing above the 4 ft tall fence. The second one is taller looking but that's because a lot of it is growing up rather than out. Keep in mind that in the past I haven't fertilized them or done anything else. I've left them to their own devices. I don't personally consider these to be fast growing plants but that could be because of where they're planted or the neglect. But anyway, the pics might help you. :)

I love a honeysuckle called Pink Lemonade. It has other names but that was on the tag when I bought it.
It blooms all the time and I bought one and planted it in semi-shade and it's blooming like crazy too. It's evergreen here in my area.

OMY, that thing is beautiful, carolann!!!! I have to get one, now.

wow! yall are wonderful! thanks so much for all your help!!!!

I'm in Tyler and my honeysuckle does great. It's blooming today. But my favorite is passion vine. I planted one a few years ago and it has grown the length of my driveway, ran underground and came up on two trees. The blooms are gorgeous and it is hardy. I love it. I saw some for sale at Blue Moon in Edom, and Hughes plant farm outside Tyler.

Vannie, is it evergreen and do you know the name of the passion vine?

I love passion vine.

My brother has an evergreen passion vine but he doesn't know which one he has.

I bought a couple that I think are evergreen. The leaves look like his and the nursery said it's very hardy for our area.

No, I don't know the name. The plant was a gift and it has been a favorite of mine. The butterflies love it. I think there's a forum for it on GW--passiflora.