What can I grow in this tricky corner?

[TheKickInside]

I'd love a climbing plant to cover this pergola post in a shady corner of the terrace and give me some foliage to look at, even if I don't get flowers.
There's only a narrow soil strip, but the soil is reasonably damp in spite of the two brick walls. It's very sheltered, and gets dappled sunlight for part of the day.

I tried a honeysuckle. It shot up to the sunlight and all I had was two brown bare stems. So I cut it back very hard, hoping to encourage lateral shoots, but the shoots are all zooming straight up and the same will happen again. I pinched out the tips, but the shoots appear to be growing from the base.

I tried a shade tolerant clematis, it died quickly.
There isn't really room for a container, as I already have climbing roses in containers at the sides.

Hydrangeas do ok in dappled shade. Also consider skimmia, euonymus, Solomon’s seal, hosta, heuchera, tiarella, fatsia. I have a viburnum in shade and it doesn’t flower but it makes a decent looking evergreen blob.

If nothing else will grow there could you train the ivy in the picture up the post? Obviously you'll need to cut it back every year or it'll take over the world but it would make it nice and green!

Climbing hydrangeas like dappled shade. Once they get going there’s load of flowers. In a small place you do have to give them a good prune, but they don’t mind that. I cut bits off mine all through the growing season.

These are good ideas, thank you.

I'll try climbing hydrangeas, and failing that will fall back on the ivy, although I think I'll be waiting quite some time with both of them!

Have you room for a large pot? That might make it a bit easier for the plant to get established if the soil is very limited.

Climbing hydrangeas are gorgeous but take a while to really get established and might struggle in that space.

Jasmine? Although I hate it as it is invasive but appears to grow anywhere.

I've got a dark corner with a climbing hydrangea - after I'd got rid of the ivy which was outcompeting it. Once it got going it's grow quite quickly.

Have you added a lot of compos5 or manure to the soil, that’ll help whatever you chose to get established.

I have lots of shade in my garden. I have a hydranga in it but it isn't doing very well. What about runner beans if you would like climbing? They are ok in shade. The plans we have which do the best, although not climbers are hellebores.

I have a Princess Diana clematis in a shadi ish part of the garden. Its roots are under black ground cover so seems to like the damp.

You know, I think I might have another go with a clematis. I do love climbing hydrangea, but IME they are not very adaptable and they suffer a lot if there is a temporary drought.

Some of the winter flowering clematis types are evergreen, but the website says they prefer a sunny spot. Do you think something like this jingle bells could thrive in a shady corner? I don't suppose I'd get many flowers, but I don't mind.

Otherwise I might look at the viticella types, they always seem robust.

The clematis I tried before was this one
and as you can see, the website says it will grow in tough places like the base of a conifer, but it did not do well and died quickly.

I suppose I should email the specialist nursery to see what they suggest.

Yes, to a pp, I would improve the soil anyway, but it is quite good there in fact and it has a permanent mulch of fallen bay leaves which I don't pick up, which keeps it quite damp.