I fought this pergola for a long time, just feeling it was an unnecessary expense and I didn't really mind the sun later in the day because I didn't go out there!
I lost, my husband was obsessive regarding the building of this pergola. He had at least six landscape/pergola people stop by the house to give estimates on this wooden creation. Finally, he settled on a person who was a carpenter and a landscape designer. Our patio was irregular so it was not the easiest pergola to design.
After many consultations, it was decided that the pergola would have grooves in the headers to accommodate a product called Shade Tree http://www.shadetreecanopies.com/ which are constructed of sunbrella fabric that draw along grooves with tracks inserted to cover the pergola. This is not a popular product in the Midwest so here we go again doing something that nobody knows what we are talking about!
I have Green Velvet Boxwood in the raised bed along one side of the patio and I use containers that can be moved if required
Well, it's up and we did buy covers this year so we don't have to take it down, and I must admit it does a great job keeping that intense sun from the patio.