Hi, I know very little about gardening. My wife is away in the hospital for about another month and I want to surprise her when she comes home with a small private sitting area in a corner of our yard next to our neighbor's six foot high wooden fence. I want to at least get started by erecting some sort of structure on our side of the fence (maybe an eight foot high wire fence between two sturdy wooded poles) for an evergreen flowering vine to climb on. By the way, we get along good with the neighbors, just want a small private area. Already talked to them about it. We live in Maryland near Baltimore (zone 7). I am looking for something that has leaves that will be green all year if possible and will have some type of bloom in the warm season. I would prefer something that is not too sloppy or out of control, although don't mind having to trim it maybe once a year. If anyone has ideas I would love to hear them. Thank you in advance. Bill

wmengers. What a beautiful thought!! A nice trellis with some clematis sounds good or even climbing roses.
How about something like this? You can make something similar pretty easily.

How about Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) or Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata) ? Both of these are native to your region.

There is a lovely evergreen clematis, I think it is clematis armandii. It has very pretty long, green leaves and wonderful scented white flowers in the summer.

Edited to add, there are other cultivars of Clematis armandii, some with pink flowers. Here's the link to the plant database if you'd like to see pictures of it. Clematis (Clematis armandii)

Other clematis are lovely, but would not be evergreen.

from me too Bill. What a sweet surprise for your dear wife; I'm sure she will enjoy her quiet little garden space!

The few vines that come to mind for me are:

Clematis (Clematis armandii 'Apple Blossom') is evergreen also and the flowers are such a pretty shade of pink.

As Jay suggested, Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata) is a great one also http://behnkes.com/website/gar...

Five-Leaf Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata) is evergreen and has fragrant blooms; and there's a white flowering variety too Five-Leaf Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata 'Shirobana')

Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) would look beautiful and there's also a yellow flowering variety Yellow Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans 'Flava')

Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is usually listed as zone 7-9 but may be semi-evergreen in the north, I'm not sure.

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a pretty too but it's deciduous and it blooms in winter before the leaves emerge.

Thank you so much Dutchlady1, Horntoad and Elaine. I am going to check all these things out. Thanks for getting back so quick.

This is not what you asked for but what I saw in my mind's eye - SkyPencil plus any of the above mentioned vines. The SkyPencil, with a small footprint, will provide height quickly while the vine grows. While waiting for the vine to mature, pots of colorful flowering plants can be hung from the 'wall'.

Welcome, Bill!

Here's a design element you might use in moderation:



BTW, if the hospital allows it, and she has a window with any sun, a small potted plant can cheer up a sterile hospital room by a lot.

Good luck to your wife's recovery! It sounds like she has a good support system.

Cool idea Rick! - but what happens when the wind blows?

I think the wires are strung all the way down to the ground and tightened. These also seem to be in a somewhat sheltered location.

A studier design would have closer-spaced uprights plus some horizontal beams.

I haven't tried it, just seen it online.

The 'wall' that Rick shows reminds me of a 'wall' made with Tillandsias strung on fishing line. I have tried replicating this at home but not fully successful yet. The fishing line has weights at the bottom so they hang free but pretty taut.