The pergola in the picture does not look like one you would actually plant something on! Where would you plant the vine?! The posts are too far from soil/ a planting bed where you could plant something, so unless you plant annuals in big pots, the structure is a stand-alone thing to provide shade (if necessary you could add shade cloth to the top, or a finer lattice or patterned metal-work to the top to increase the degree of shade...) Is your pergola that far away from a planting bed?

Naver grow a wisteria unless you are fully aware of - and prepared to do - the degree of pruning required to promote maximum flowering and contol of the vines. Is that something you're prepared for?

The cement on which our pergola rests is close to a planting bed at all four corners. I just posted that picture because the structure looks very similar.

After doing more research, we have concluded that wisteria would not work well on our pergola since it is made of wood. We have decided to go with a mix of summer snow and alpina bettina clematis.

Dont want to hijack this thread, but... Later this summer I'm having a Pergola put in and we are making sure there is dirt next to each post. We are looking for vining plants to plant primarily for shade, but fruit and/or flowers are a bonus. I'm definilty going to check out the plants mentioned above. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a vining plant that meets the following criteria?
1) Perenial in Zone 4
2) Provides shade
3) Fruit and/or flowers

The pergola will be wood, and the area receives filtered sun for half the day, and full sun the other half.