I just can't get it to grow, it just sulks and barely grows. I've tried moving it once as well. Other places you see it absolutely rampant. It got frozen to the ground by last winter too, though a new shoot has recently appeared.

I think you probably need a nice sunny wall to get it to flower - I've seen it like that in the Cotswolds where in theory it should get colder than where I am in the winter. My own idea of growing it in a mixed border against a south-facing fence is evidently just not warm enough, and it just isn't winning the battle against the other plants in the border. I do have a nice sunny wall but that is reserved for the grape vine.