I live in the Toronto area and have a south facing brick wall (partly shaded by another house) that I would love to see covered in greenery. My first preference would be native plants that would attract wildlife (birds, butterflies, etc.), a flowering plant and one with a nice fragrance. I've been doing some reading and have come up with both the Virginia Creeper (vigourous climber, changes colour in fall and produces berries) and either the Trumpet Honeysuckle or Trumpet Creeper (both are hummingbird attractants and show beautiful flowers but might need to use the Virginia Creper to hang on to). I actually prefer the look of the honeysuckle but from what I've read it seems the Trumpet Creeper is a better climber.

Would you recommend these?

Can I plant them both on the same wall to get the advantages of both plants?

Any help would be appreciated!

My experience with coral honeysuckle is that it needs help. I put some green wire fencing around my trees for it.

The trumpet creeper is much more invasive than the honeysuckle. I believe the virginia creeper will simply stick to the wall, but it is on the invasive side, too... I think both the virginia creeper and the trumpet creeper would overtake the honeysuckle.

Other options may be dutchman's pipevine, native clematis and bittersweet. If you are zone 5 you could also try maypops, although they may not be reliable. I have had success with them but may lose them if we get a really cold winter.

I'm not sure how they will all do with a brick wall... I think the virginia creeper will most likely "stick" the best.

Good luck!

Jeanne