All the quick ones I can think of can become unruly monsters. The tamer ones take more time.

Bougainvillea takes about three years to become established but then becomes pretty vigorous. Half inch long thorns are one of it's faults and the colorful bracts are messy.

There is a palette of climbing roses to chose from but these may take a little white to establish. Cecile Brunner comes to mind. Lots and lots of pink blooms in spring.

There are some varieties of honeysuckle that are tamer and smaller than the big old Hall's honeysuckle but you may have to hunt for them.

This is from the lady who let perennial morning glory eat half her house. It's a monster but boy does it look pretty!

Your pergola is really nice. It's going to be a little Eden in there once your vines get going. Could you plant some shrubs instead of vines against the fence? They tend to be less work. Nandinas stay narrow.

The problem with fast growing vines is that they are almost always monsters that take over everything and become a maintenance nightmare. I have small spaces like yours, and I have begun using climbing roses because they are easier to control and they don't litter as much as the other things I have tried.

I have yanked out

1. Cat's Claw
2. Honeysuckle
3. Perennial morning glory (but it still lives, and laughs at me)
4. Wisteria
5. Red Trumpet Vine
6. Hardenbergia
7. Pink (Chinese) Jasmine
8. Bougainvillea

Now I only grow White Potato Vine, Bower Vine, Clematis, Star Jasmine, and climbing roses. The Bower Vine is testing my patience- it has finally decided to really take off and it is becoming too much work.

For your situation I would recommend Star Jasmine or Rosa Banksia. I also like my climbing Pinkie rose, but it has thorns. The Jasmine stays green all year, so it's always lush and pretty.

Nice job on the backyard, and good luck.
Renee

I have Thunbergia at the front of my house. I love it and it is showing 'monster' tendencies. That's why I did not recommend it. The orange flowers are so cheerful and it pretty much blooms non-stop except in the hottest weather.

I love Rosa Banksia but it also has monster tendencies. I am depending on those tendencies to make a hedge next to the street impassable.

On two pergolas I have evergreen Clematis Armandii which makes a good shade, with some mess when the bloom drops. Not sure if it will take full sun in your location, but worth looking into. Al

I have Hibbertia scandens on either side of my garage. I think it's wonderful. Doesn't require a lot of water. It's dense but doesn't buildup a lot of dead undergrowth. It doesn't have thorns. The only problem is it only blooms once a year in late Spring - early Summer.

Take seriously what is said about most vines becoming monsters in mild winter areas. I have a jasmine from a neighbor that is trying to devour everything. Got rid of Hardenbergia for the same reason. Hiring someone to eradicate the jasmine next week.

I love star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) - lovely fragrance, clean look, easy to control with yearly prune. It grows on my porch railing and the spiders don't like it. Yeah!

My 2nd favorite is lavender trumpet vine (used to be Bignonia, now Clytostoma callistegioides) ~ fairly fast growing but maneageable, clean appearance, showy in spring, no fragrance to my nose, yearly prune.

Both of these rely on winter rains. Climbing roses are my favorite (need additional water). Any that stay under 15 feet are acceptable. Any 30 foot growers, like Cecile Brunner, I avoid. It's not just the length but the width of these that make them monsters in my small garden. Clematis with them? Yes!

Guinea Gold Vine (Hibbertia scandens) is excellent for someone wanting yellow flowers ............... the 2 specimens I knew were in brick planters and stayed within bounds. Its leaves are not as clean-looking as Trachelospermum & Clytostoma. Don't remember any fragrance.

Bougainvillea is great ONLY if you choose a short hybrid.

Beautiful pergola! I have a similar one leading to our front door, and after trying roses (thorns, disease)ended up with bower vines. They were in 24" pots until 6 months ago and grew well. Now in ground and still behaving. They flower all year, aren't messy, and are filling in well.
Weather here (Sunset 17) is cooler than yours, so for you might be more vigorous?

Check out these other Trachelospermum cultivars

Snow-N-Summer (Tricolor)
http://gardendebut.com/_product_60941/Trachelospermum_asiaticum_'HOSNS'

Ogon Nihiki
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/1491/japanese-star-jasmine.php

Pink Showers
http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R1909-2

Thank you guys for all the ideas! I will have to do some further research and see what will work best. The roses are leading the way thus far (and I think my wife likes them too). The pergola gets pretty harsh sunlight all summer and into the fall where I am. temps get well above 100 most summers for extended periods of time. We are going to mulch a big area around the pergola and plant shrubs and lantana against the fences.

I can get water to the vines or roses if needed, it's the heat that worries me. The pergola faces west, so it gets sun most of the afternoon. I plan on shutting down a few sprinkler heads, but already have a drip system set up, so I would only have to run a T to get water to the plants.

I had some bower vines planted in another part of the yard, and they just never took off. It could be the clay soil, or the acidity, I'm not sure, but they have been there for two years with very little growth, but I love them.

The trumpet vine is also a good idea and I cant believe I didn't think of it. My neighbor, who I know for a fact NEVER waters anything, has trumpet vines which have grown right to the back and left of the pergola from his side and up and over the fence. Will they climb up the pergola?

The star jasmine is also a great idea. Thunbergia sounds great too, and I know I have seen it around my neighborhood.

So many choices... ahhhhh. I do wonder if planting it and irrigating it right next to the pergola might rot the wood, but other than that, it's only the intense heat that I really have to factor in to this decision.

Zone: 8B
I'm in Vallejo California, and I'm looking for a decorative climbing vine for a 6' chain-link fence. It must tolerate frost which we get occasionally. It must tolerate heat, because the property is covered in asphalt. Ideally the vine is drought tolerant, easy to maintain, attractive, grows quickly, not overly heavy, non-destructive and not messy. That's the ideal. I'm sure I will have to settle for less.

I want to go with potato vine, except it doesn't have thorns. Vallejo is has plenty of crime and thorns would be good.

I don't know much about climbing roses. Any opinions? Would climbing roses work? And which variety would I use? Or is there only one variety?

Despite the mess, I would go with Bougainvillea except it could die in a frost leaving me with a nightmare.