I have several Japanese Painted Ferns around a small Japanese Maple that get sun in the afternoon and they are thriving. The amount of sun depends on the time of the year, but I think it ranges from 3 to 5 hours. I do make sure the maple is well watered, so this helps the ferns too.

The JPF is easily divided, since it spreads by rhizones, you can remove a section of the rhizome (with a frond or growth bud) using a sharp knife or shovel. The Autumn Fern is a little more difficult, since it has a woody crown. Slice off a portion, with a frond(s) and some healthy roots with a knife or shovel. Pot the divisions in a moisture retentive potting mix and keep moist, in total shade, until they appear to be growing normally. The big box stores near me stock both of these during the growing season and have seen small pots there for $3-4. There is an Autumn Fern cultivar 'Brilliance',now available, that retains the bronze color well into the late spring-early summer. Have seen those at the box stores, also. Rb

geranium macrorhizum does have a variegated cultivar...I've got it. Don't have the name with me. It's doing great in my dry (pines not as dry as maples) shade. I also have a silver pulmonaria ('Majeste') in my dry shade. Love it! but it does get some watering where it is, so not sure about maple competition. I like the idea of H. Kabitan too. Its a quick grower for easy propogation. I've been looking for Ajuga 'Toffee Chip' to fill some never-get-watered areas, but haven't seen it yet. I got some 'Chocolate Chip' last year which is working well in a neglected part of the yard. I used to have epimedium in my dry shade, but it was kinda boring and spready and I was never close enough to see the tiny flowers, so I moved it to the woodland edge. Many carex should do well there. I have 'Treasure Island' which is a low ground cover type. Its cream and green and brightens things up. Looks like bamboo. There is one similar that has a gold edge.

Flowering perennials ANEMONE flaccida Spreading, white flowers, spotted leaves ANEMONE keiskeiana Summer dormant, white flowers, mottled foliage ANEMONE nemorosa `Bracteata` Double white flowers, with green and white bracts ANEMONE pseudoaltaica NE Asia, white or blue, spreading, well-drained, humus, shade ANEMONE ranunculoides `Flore Pleno` Double yellow flowers ANEMONE seemannii Creeping hybrid of A. nemerosa and A. ranunculoides, large cream/sulphur flowers ANEMONE stolonifera Japan, white, dissected leaves, creeping AQUILEGIA desertorum Arizona columbine, 18" x 15", red and yellow AQUILEGIA formosa Red Spur columbine, 24" x 18", bright red BEGONIA grandis `Alba` BEGONIA grandis 'Heron's Pirouette' BEGONIA grandis ssp. evansiana 'Wildwood Purity 18 x 18, hardy if mulched; the last slightly larger CARDIANDRA alternifolia Japan, small hydrangea relative, 18 x 24, late pink flowers CORYDALIS malkensis Caucasus, white, early, humus, partial shade, moist CORYDALIS ochroleuca Italy, Greece; ferny leaves, long-flowering, yellowish white CORYDALIS ornata SE Russia, sky-blue to white, partial shade, not too dry CORYDALIS paczoskii Ukraine, mauve, humus, moist, shade CORYDALIS vittae Caucasus, white, partial shade, humus EPIMEDIUM acuminatum 12 x 18, marbled foliage, purple when new, with lilac sepals and lavender petals EPIMEDIUM pubigerum 12-24 x 12-24, yellowish flowers EPIMEDIUM sutchuenense Spreading; white sepals, red petals, mottled foliage EPIMEDIUM x omeiense 'Akane' 12", purple red flowers with yellow spurs [additional epimediums from elsewhere in the garden] ERINUS alpinus `Albus` ERINUS alpinus `Carmineus` Fairy foxglove, Alps, 4 x 4, flowers May, reseeds into crevices. ERYTHRONIUM ÂWhite Beauty Dogtooth violet, clumping, white and yellow flowers, mottled foliage KEISKEIA japonica var. hondoensis White flowers, 24-36", late summer PINELLIA cordata ÂYamazaki PINELLIA pedatisecta PINELLIA tripartite China, 9 x 9 aroids POLLIA japonica Stoloniferous, 18  24 x indef., ginger-like foliage with heads of many small white flowers, then black berries PRIMULA daoensis Rhaetian Alps, 4 x 6, rosy pink, moist, humus, part shade PRIMULA kisoana ÂAlba Spreading, 4" scalloped hairy leaves, white flowers, shade PRIMULA kisoana var. shikokiana Pink flowers, loose woodsy soil THALICTRUM filamentosum var. tenerum NE Asia, 12", white, July, humus, shade THALICTRUM lucidum Shining Meadow Rue, 48-60 x 12, fragrant, yellow TRACHYSTEMON orientalis NE Turkey, 24 x 36, fuzzy foliage, blue purple panicles in spring TRAUTVETTERIA carolinensis Native to both US coasts, 15 x 24 foliage, white flowers to 5 ft., moist, shaded TRAUTVETTARIA japonica Short, white, like Thal.fil., moist, well-drained, shade TRICYRTIS formosana 24-36 x 18 TRICYRTIS perfoliata 18 x 10, yellow TRICYRTIS Seiryu 24", mat-forming TRIOSTEMON himalayanum Zhongdien Plateau, 30 x 36, light shade, greenish-yellow flowers, red fruit VIOLA ÂPartly Cloudy Variegated form of unknown species, East Coast, a Darrell Probst selection VIOLA odorata ÂAlba Plena Fragrant, fully double, spreads by runners YPSILANDRA thibetica Evergreen rosettes to 5 x 5, white spikes in late winter to 8", part shade, humus