Deer will eat the Jerusalem artichokes... only reason why mine are only 5 ft tall is because the deer had been grazing on them. My deer don't touch my garlic or onions... (in the dead of last winter only thing green was my garlic and they didn't come close to them of course they ate up the arborvite in my front yard). I'd try hot peppers and cherry tomatoes... cherry/small fruited toms can tolerate a less than ideal amount of sun. I have small thai chillis that I planted in the wrong spot one year and they got shaded out pretty badly... the plant did fine though. (BTW these are two that I grow out in the open not in my deer protected area)

You are very fortunate to have one of the best rhododendron nurseries in the country near you. It is www.rarefindnursery.com. They carry native rhododendrons including ones that are azaleas. They list of native North American Native Rhododendrons includes: Rhododendron Species   Common Name        Classification            Suitability R. alabamense       Alabama Azalea      deciduous azalea            yes R. albiflorum       Cascade azalea      deciduous elepidote rhod.   NO R. arborescens      Sweet Azalea        deciduous azalea            yes R. atlanticum       Coastal Azalea      deciduous azalea            yes R. austrinum        Florida Azalea      deciduous azalea            yes R. calendulaceum    Flame Azalea        deciduous azalea            yes R. camtschaticum    Therorhodion        deciduous elepidote rhod.   no R. canadense        Rhodora Azalea      deciduous azalea            difficult R. canescens        Piedmont Azalea     deciduous azalea            yes R. catawbiense      Mountain Rosebay    elepidote rhododendron      yes R. cumberlandense   Cumberland Azalea   deciduous azalea            yes R. eastmanii        May White Azakea    deciduous azalea            no R. flammeum         Oconee Azalea       deciduous azalea            no R. groenlandicum    Labrador Tea,       lepidote rhododendron       no R. lapponicum       Lapland Rosebay     lepidote rhododendron       no R. macrophyllum     Pacific rhod.       elepidote rhododendron      no R. maximum          Great Laurel        elepidote rhododendron      yes

I think the citrus would look beautiful in this atrium area... I wish I had something like that in my backyard... must be nice for privacy. I constantly have to worry about my neighbors seeing everything. I've seen citrus grown in partial shade and they look extremely beautiful here in AZ in such a setting, they become very green and just look very healthy. You'll probably get some fruit too, but maybe not as much as in direct sun and it might take longer to ripen. Also there's another advantage with the atrium thing: the fact that the trees are better protected and a lot less likely to freeze if it gets cold like last week. You probably would never even have to worry about covering them like the rest of us. I have a little grapefruit tree on the north side of my house between two large trees. In the winter it gets very little sunshine. It's has been in the ground for 2.5 yrs and right now it has big huge grapefruits on it about to ripen. I'd recommend the Rio Red variety, and maybe Oroblanco (you can easily have more than one variety on the same tree. For orange, I really like the Trovita variety. Another citrus I've really grown to love is my Meyer lemon. That would do well in a setting like that as well. My 2 year old lemon tree is about 5 ft tall and I harvested about 100 big lemons last month and there are still a few left on it. A lot of people prefer them to regular lemons because they're less acidic and slightly sweeter. ok I'll get off my soapbox... gosh, now I have "atrium envy" I so miss having a private area outdoors.

Roses grown in shady conditions grow tall and lanky, tend to get disease and don't produce many blooms. But you can grow some Rugosas, Hybrid Musks and Albas in semi-shade with a minimum of four hours of sunshine.