Some vines do well in shade

Vines that do well in the shade are real treasures, filling trellises and blank walls above hostas, ferns and other low-growing plants.

I've tried Dutchman's pipe, sweet autumn clematis and climbing hydrangea, all with some success. But I recommend them with two caveats: All but the clematis grow slowly, and they've given me few flowers, even the ones in their fourth season.

The sweet autumn clematis has flowered best, covering itself with fleecy white flowers in late August and early September. Although it will survive in the shade, it flowers best where it gets a little sun. Mine stretches from the deep shade beneath a deck railing -- where it's intertwined with Dutchman's pipe -- to flower profusely upon wire mesh attached to the railing.

Because it's a Group 3 clematis, it can be cut nearly to the ground in the spring.

I have both regular and Japanese climbing hydrangea. Moonlight grew rapidly up brick on the east side of the house, where it got much more sun than its pokey brothers on the north side. Although it had few flowers, its silvery round leaves were a nice contrast against the red brick.

Conversely, less sun has been better for my regular hydrangea (H. petiolaris). An older one that gets a little late-day sun beneath towering pine trees has stretched almost 15 feet in five years up some lattice on the deck, competing well with English ivy. But a younger plant on a south-facing block wall has struggled even where it's shaded by a huge New Dawn climbing rose.