Questions on vine that tolerates cold feet, trails in sun

I have this huge 12 foot rock in our yard that is quite an unusual rock. On the bank side, I've been working at planting perennials around it, quite a variety, with the stars being some hardy hibiscus. I'm kinda new at this, so I probably planted too much stuff, too close! But I've been reading a lot about it and trying to figure out different combinations.
Anyway, on the side of the rock toward the house, a natural water path comes down the rock, starting about 3 feet from the top, goes under a 4 inch bridge, and then forks into two pathways. The bridge is about 5 feet up. Under the bridge is a place that would work good to plant a plant. It is about 12 inches deep, 8-10" across. I could put soil straight in there. Then the flower would go up about a foot, cascade over the bridge and come tumbling down the rock in the forked pathways! That's what I'm visualizing anyway. I know clematis likes cool feet, and to grow in Sun, but I want something that grows at least 10 feet, and blooms continually after it starts. I thought of Passion Plant, since I have a bunch of little starts, but am not sure that likes shade. Would mandevilla mind the cold feet?

My husband would sometime like to put a water fall there, with a pond below, but I don't see him getting that done for years! And that would be quite the project getting the water pumped up that high. So I'll leave that up to him. I was just trying to make it pretty in the meantime.

Another question. on the other side of the rock, I planted some English Ivy to hopefully grow up and cover the back of the rock. Will the English Ivy cling to the rock without any help? Or do I really want English Ivy. After reading some posts, it seems like some people would call English Ivy a nuisance! I don't want it to choke everything else out. Thanks for your help.

English ive is very invasive, so I would not recommend it personally. I am currently trying to rid my landscape of 25 years of growth of this nasty invasive plant!

I would like to suggest a trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) or one of its cultivars - it comes in red, orange, yellow and pinkish brown). It becomes a huge vine and blooms all summer long. Wherever you trim/prune it, blooms will burst forth. You can pull any that you don't want, as it can be invasive if left unattended. You will have an ABUNDANCE of hummingbirds if you plant it!

Trumpet Vine is invasive too, especially in growing zone 7.

Plenty of Clematis grow at least 10ft+. Go with a Clematis Montana. They grow 20-25ft.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2006 1:35 PM

Are you wanting a vine for foliage or flowers? Some vines bloom all summer while others don't. Also, are you wanting something that will completely engulf the rock or just gently trail over it?

Lilac, you're not that far from me - I'm in Fort Valley. I have trumpet vine if you want some.

For how long does the Clematis Montana bloom? And what color would the flowers be? I would like something that blooms alot, to bring a bit of color. I like foliage too, but I thought some color would be nice. And I don't want it to engulf the rock, just trail down the "waterways!" I know it's kinda hard to imagine, this is a very unique rock, and the picture doesn't really show the waterways or the tunnel. Trumpet vine doesn't really get me excited, but it might work here. We have trumpet vine growing next to the house and have tried to get rid of it several times, and it always comes back. It crawls into the siding and tries to get in the windows and has wrecked havoc on that corner of the house. It is pretty though.

Do you think the mandevilla would mind being planted in the shade like that. The bottom part of the plant would probably never really get much sun unless if the sun was directly overhead it for a little. But the leaves would get sun most all the day.

Here's a little closer up picture of the waterways. I'm not sure if they will show up or not.

Clematis Montana are the huge vines that can range from 15-25ft. The only bloom once for a couple of weeks. Flower color will vary from white to pink to light red according to the different varieties. When they are not in flower, it would be green leafy vines.