My first suggestion is to not plant any Norway maples anywhere on your property. They seed invasively into woodlands and you look to be surrounded by some quite nice woods. I don't know how things stand in CT, but it's illegal to sell them in NH due to their invasive nature. I also don't think that they are particularly attractive with the possible exception of the early spring little chartreuse blossoms. (Just my opinion)

Both red maple and river birch are native trees that I like lots but wouldn't be well suited to this spot since they like average to wet soil. Both are found in wetland areas naturally. Red maples: I love the fall foliage, and early spring blooms followed by the reddish seeds and early leaves lend a pink glow to the spring woods. However, you will be pulling out maple seedlings from your garden unless you plant it down at the edge of your woods. River birch: graceful trees with lots of movement in the wind due to flexible branches and fluttery leaves, clear yellow fall color, and nice winter bark. So I hope you'll use them somewhere in your yard.

I haven't seen lilacs growing in dry, rocky areas. Not sure if this is because it's too hard to dig there or because they don't grow well in drier settings.
Native laurel (I am assuming mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia) is another lovely plant, but does best with some shade, particularly in winter, as the sun & your wind combined will dry the plant during a time when it has leaves but not good access to water (though if it's a shady spot and your ground typically doesn't freeze, it might be OK.)

Is your native pine a white pine (Pinus strobus) with 5 long flexible needles in a bundle? If so, they will get too big to make your husband happy. They also tend to lose branches during winter storms that include snow or ice in combination with wind. They also drip pine pitch onto things - I have spots on my car that I can't get off from parking under a pine tree. All told, a nice tree in the right spot, but not next to the house.

I'd think about a juniper or a spruce, which come in many sizes and shapes. Juniper in particular, I've seen growing in some pretty rocky pastures, totally uncared for. I'm not sure if either will grow fast enough for your purposes. I'll be interested in seeing what others suggest.

I'll also again suggest that you think about a vine which you could plant in front of the porch in the vicinity of the corner. Then you could make a custom trellis that wraps around the end of the porch using hooks and string or netting (or other material if you are a metal worker or woodworker.) You could even use a traditional trellis fastened to the porch rail or post and use string or bamboo stakes to guide the vine towards the trellis.

We already have a Norway maple (my dad calls it a red maple but it's dark red all year so I think it's Norway) in the backyard. It was a volunteer that sprang up in their peonies last year, but the first one they've found in 35 years since they planted the original.

I planted mtn laurel transplanted from woods along the edge of the lawn, along with the white pine. Don't really want those near the house, just threw that out there. looking for deciduous shade anyway. Lilacs are planted at the end of the porch (under antenna) and I could put more in front - they send out runners so don't seem to be deep rooted, but kind of invasive and also not so pretty in winter.

We have lots of birch in the back (white and river) if you look, but I don't think I want them near the house either. Of course lots of maples but most seem to be stump shoots from when we cleared, not sure we could get a good rooted seedling anyway. Lots of oak seedlings too, shagbark hickory (which I'd like to plant more of but hear they're hard to grow), and hemlock. We have 97 acres, mostly in forest, and neighbors behind us have a couple hundred more (but one is logging, another with hayfields is for sale so may have subdivisions going in, though thank goodness it's probably half mile to the property line so we won't see the houses unless *we* clear trees).

At this point I'm wondering if I can brave the poison ivy to dig some of my great-grandma's climbing roses from near my parents' stone wall and plant them close to the porch, let them climb up the stone wall and a trellis. But they too look awful in winter - my parents don't do anything to maintain them, so I don't know if they need lots of topsoil and whether the vines/canes (what do you call them on a climber?) would grow quickly enough to cover a trellis each summer if I cut them back each winter.

Does anybody else have any suggestions for

1) vine for shade, shallow roots, fast-growing? Maybe something I could plant in a windowbox on the porch to get a head start on covering the trellis? I was going to add lattice above the rail anyway for shade, can try to wrap it around front b/t the columns (about 9ft) but attachment is harder. Also wondering how that would look - would I have to screen off b/t the garage and first column on that side to make it symmetrical in order to not look strange? Also, I bought 4 hanging baskets for Mother's Day so was really going to hang one b/t each pair of columns on either side of stairs. Maybe I should have gotten 1 more for over the rail and forget the lattice?

and

2) something to plant on the slope for erosion control (move a cypress? Apple tree?)?

Thanks

For vines, trumpet vine (gets big fast though! You'd need to stay on top of that), clematis (so many kinds), climbing hydrangea, Gelsemium sempervirens (Carolina Jasmine) Evergreen vine with small yellow fragrant flowers blooming now for me here in Providence), and of course wisteria (again a power-grower!).

Thanks Bill. Any of those OK to grow in a windowbox?

I would say none of those, however, you could plant any of those in the ground, and while you wait for them to mature, you could plant annual vines in your window boxes. There are loads of those.........morning glories, cypress vine, black-eyed-susan vine, etc. Just check any seed catalog.

Before planting any of the Asian wisterias or trumpet vine near your house, I'd read up on them. Either one has the potential to lift shingles, etc. and would need a very substantial support structure - certainly not just standard trellis. Asian wisterias seed invasively in some areas as well and both have a reputatin for sending up shoot yards away from the mother plant. You might look into some of the native wisterias, such as Wistera frutescens 'Amethyst Falls' which while large are supposed to be less aggressive. Hydrangea vines can get huge as well (40 ft) and need a wall to climb since they attach by suckers not by twining. It's a plant I have against a large masonry wall, and I've heard of others planting it on a mature tree to grow up the trunk.

Bill has some other great suggestions, though, both the annual vines and the Carolina Jasmine, which I'd love to be able to grow. I've grown black-eyed susan vines in whiskey barreled sized pots and they have done fine. Another annual is scarlet runner beans, which will attract humming birds and also produce edible beans, either green when very young or dried beans. Other perennials include clematis or some of the noninvasive honeysuckles such as Lonicera sempervirens. You could also consider the hardy annual Kiwi which produces fruit that is non-fuzzy, about the size and texture of a large green grape. Taste like kiwi fruit, though! I'm not sure how big those get or how they would do in the bright shade you have along your porch.

In any case, add some good topsoil to the area, mulch it well, and be sure to water when it's needed (when your finger is sunk deep into the soil it starts to feel dryish.)