I've just signed on to the forum and love all the questions and responses. Hope this isn't too late to be of some help. I have a 10 year old Jackmani clematis that grows very tall and flowers abundantly. We also have dropmore honeysuckle along one side of our deck for some privacy. The flowers are lovely. We prune it regularly so it doesn't get so out of hand. We also have Engelman ivy growing on our backfence and I don't think anything could kill that. Two years ago I planted a piece of grape ivy that I received from our son in Minneapolis. Although he gets grapes, I didn't have any but the vine was beautiful. It filled 4 tall trellises which are about 36" wide. My neighbor loved it when it went up and over our fence into her yard. It formed a canopy type effect. I planted a Jackson and Perkins Peace climbing rose last year but didn't get any flowers. It came back and appears to be doing well thus far.

Some years ago I purchased 5 peony rings with the green coating and a metal grid on top. They are about 16" across and pretty heavy duty. Around $10 each, IIRC. When the peonies shoots are about 12" tall I put up the rings, and then guide the shoots through the grid for a few days. This is a bit too much fussing for my taste, but they seem to work pretty well. Once they're through they grow nice and upright and the foliage hides the ring by blooming time. This pic is from last June and you can't tell the rings are there -

Oh and one more thing, earlier this spring it looked as if the very tip of an eye was poking up thru the soil(besides the one stem), but it apparently was a dud and never made another stem. Is it possible this peony has root rot and is just barely hanging on? I'm guessing that's what happened to the other ones since they never came back. Would that also cause it to have less stems than last year? I always heard they double the amount of stems from one year to the next...

Yeah Indu, it's in my garden. So far this year it's about 2 feet high and blooming already. Actually, I would call it's growth habit more rambling or leaning than vining. If you decide to go with this vine, I have some cuttings on the mist table, and will save you one when they are rooted. Another vine to consider, is the Mexican Flame vine. It would fill a pyramid quickly and is really pretty when in full bloom. Jim