Fman, I personally wouldn't grow a montana with any wisteria. Although the american version may not be as aggressive a grower as the japanese forms, the root systems on wisterias are rather large and the clematis will have to compete with it as it grows. Also, since the wisteria has already been planted, it has a head start on the clematis and since clematis tend to take three or so years to get establised, I fear the clematis may never be able to catch up. Other things come to mind also. How are you getting the wisteria to attach itself to the telephone pole? It is doing this all by itself or are you providing something for it to grasp onto? Clematis definitely need something small to grasp onto to climb. Granted it could use the wisteria vines to grab onto, but have you seen how large wisteria branches can get. What if the clematis is planted, does survive, and intertwines amongst the wisteria vines? Eventually the wisteria vines could get so big that they would grow together and crush the clematis vines. Should the clematis survive for several years and get established, you realize that montana Ruebens can eventually get from 22 to 30 feet in length. Is the wisteria going to eventually get that high for the clematis to use it as its climbing support? If not, the clematis will not have anything to cling to and drape back down over itself. Sounds enticing in and of itself, but is this the effect you desired? Just some thing to think about. Good luck on your decision!

Other vines for shade here are Sweet Autumn Clematis for good coverage, and a mass of tiny white blooms in late August-September that are very fragrant. A lot of clematis will grow in partial shade and some of the best are viticelli hybrids, like 'Polish Spirit'. Jackmanii is another. Honeysuckles will take partial shade, too. Some of the newer cultivars are great bloomers, especially of the ssp. Lonicera sempervirens. Dutchman's pipevines are wonderful vines for shade but may take awhile to become established (about 2 years). After established, it grows very fast. Aristolochia macrophylla (syn. durior) has HUGE heart-shaped leaves, and the flowers are shaped like meershaum pipes. It is also a host plant for the pipevine swallowtail. A. tomentosa has hairy foliage and stems as the name indicates, smaller foliage, but is nonetheless a nice vine, too. Crossvine (bignonia) will do well in partial shade and has the same tubular flowers as trumpet creeper (campsis) without being quite as aggressive. Climbing hydrangeas are beautiful, but it can take up to 5 years for them to really start growing. You can grow ornamental Kiwi vines (actinidia kolomitka). Insignificant flowers, but the foliage is mottled green, pink, and white. Japanese Hydrangea vine (shizophragma hydrangeoides) 'Moonlight' is similar to the regular climbing hydrangea, but the leaves are infused with silver - gorgeous! Some of these hydrangea vines take many years to become established, but you can supplement them with annual vines in the interim, like antigonon leptopus (coral vine--hummingbirds love it); some morning glories will tolerate partial shade. Is your exposure total shade??? I think the Aristolochia or pipevine for the back area is the best idea. They are hardy and will eventually cover the entire area. These are old fashioned cottage garden type plants that southerners used to use for shade on their porches. Confederate Jasmine is another nice foliage vine that blooms with fragrant white blooms in spring. It is perennial. Carolina Jessamine is another perennial vine that has yellow spring blossoms. Hops vines are nice, too, and hardy, and are a host plant for the beautiful Question Mark, Commas, and Mourning Cloak butterflies. You will have lots of butterflies around. Forgive me, I'm a butterfly and moth fanatic, so I'm always thinking of ways to encourage people to grow butterfly-friendly plants. It is best to start these vines from rhizomes that you can order over the Internet, from places like The Thyme Garden. They are very inexpensive, too. I have given you a link to vines that grow in shade. Aristolochia is not among them, but it is just now making a comeback, so it is early in the game for some garden writers. Also, I don't recommend 5-leaf akebia, which can easily get out of control, nor do I suggest the fig because of its marginal hardiness here. American Bittersweet is okay (but not Chinese bittersweet) if you have lots of room for it to romp, and make sure you get a male and female plant in order to get the berries. Otherwise, it is virtually carefree except for some pruning, and I've never seen any pests on mine. Wouldn't recommend the climbing bamboo (smilax) either as it is hard to get rid of once you have it, or the Chinese and Japanese wisterias. The common periwinkle is very invasive as well. Other than those, there are some good suggestions with photos. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Vines for Shade

So glad you finally got some blooms on that wisteria (was it the one that was barren for years?). Not sure what variety mine is (wasn't aware that there were quite a few!) but it has lovely dark blue flowers & heavenly aroma!! I have one I have trained as a tree form (it is about 50 yrs. old), a newer one I trained to grow across the top of the chain link fence. The other tree form was next to a porch post & had grown around & twisted the post so had to cut it down. It was the neighborhood beauty when the top was in full bloom! The cut base now is trying to put out more shoots so we have kept just one to train -away from the post- & let it grow away from the house & up the trunk of a near-by tree!(we may find THAT a mistake later on though?!). Seems wisterias do well with little care... & sometimes with no care at all ... or being ignored! Can be trained to different styles too.

How about getting American or Kentucky wisteria instead of the invasive Japanese or Chinese wisteria?