What can I grow on a fence to complement Clematis Montana?

[ErrolTheDragon]

I've got a lovely big clematis Montana on a fence, intergrowing with a sort of honeysuckle (I think it's a japanese one not the usual) and winter jasmine which grows through from next door.

There's also a summer flowering clematis.

Now the Montana needs pruning, it's very hard to do this without accidentally cutting or pulling the others. The honeysuckle is very straggly, and there are quite a lot of messy dead stems at the back.

I'm thinking of trying to extricate the summer clematis and hack back all the rest. The Montana will regrow and I'm sure the winter jasmine will too (or reinvade).

But that will leave largely bare fence for the summer. I suppose anything which needs pruning at the same time as the Montana won't really help with that.

So maybe the best thing would to be to grow annual climbers? Sweet peas are the obvious one ... but I'm sure there must be others I've not thought of. I've tried morning glories in the past but never had much luck (I'm in Lancashire, maybe they like it a bit warmer).

Any ideas please?

You’ve mentioned the ones I would try. Except it is quite late if you’re starting from seed. How about some runner beans? You can get red and white flowers and of course the beans too, and it’s not too late to plant them.

Cathedral bells/cup-and-saucer plant (Cobaea scandens). Vigorous late-flowering annual climber. Not too late to sow it now

I do have some sweet pea seedlings growing, they may be enough for this year, but I'm thinking about what to do more long term if I get rid of the honeysuckle entirely.

The Cathedral bells isn't one I'm familiar with, that looks good!