I moved into this house in Minnesota in fall 2010 and there was this previously established vine(?) growing on a trellis. It clearly had been established and trained to go up the trellis - there are some old stakes with twist ties around the plant.
It is a very enthusiastic grower, but has never flowered. I think it *might* be a type of Clematis, but all the id sites show flowers, not leaves. I pruned the green things a bit last year and then last fall cut it off about 6 inches from the roof line, but it has re-grown even more enthused than ever.
I took a clipping to a local nursery and they thought it was a weed. But it is clearly deliberately planted.
I didn't get a good picture of the base, but it looks like thicker wood 'ropes' coming out of it, rather than a single branch. It loses all its leaves every winter, but the leaves never turn color or anything.
I would really like to identify it, so I can figure out how to properly prune it.
The old vine is wood and a bunch of new shoots come up that have a green stem. They mostly come off the old wood, but some seem to sprout up a foot or so away from the vines on the ground.
Any idea what this is? Clematis? If so, any guesses on what type?