A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Winter climbers

This may be one of those "no chance" questions, but I have a tripod that I'm currently growing outdoor cucumbers up (very successfully thankfully).

Now I would like to use this tripod during the winter/spring season once the cukes have died off, so wondered if there was a winter hardy climber (that I could treat as an annual) that would be useful to me?

Or maybe there's a climber that is a perennial that flowers in winter, but doesn't have much leaf in the summer?

For reference, my tripod is only about 4 foot high and about 1.5 foot in diameter, so nothing too big.

Hope there's something out there for me, don't want to look at a naked tripod all through winter and spring.

the only thing I can think of is artificial flowers like ivy vines. Or I have a yellow rose chain that I use for a boarder inside my apartment to add color. but winter growers in your climate don't happen all the often. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head are christmas roses and they aren't vines.