The area in question is shaded by a large silver maple, dries out in 2-3 days after deep watering or rainfall & gets North, Nothwest and East sun.

Rebecca, Semps don't have to be in full sun / mostly sun to do well, so no, they'll not suffer in the conditions you've outlined. They may not be as colourful as one would get, but by no means will they do poorly.

How would you stop them from being buried under leaves in the fall?

I suppose Id have to stay on top of my leaf removal. Usually I just leave them all till spring.

Cactus, the ones I was interested in were a bright ruby red & a deep, velvty magenta. I didnt get their names. I also like semp ”gold nugget”,

Rina, Mountain Crest’s website says the gold color w/ reddish accents is brightest in the fall/winter. So Im guessing the redder version is the summer color when its really hot, like stress coloring?

I have Semp's in full sun and shade, and dappled sun, and they all do well. As everyone noted, the colors will transition and vary throughout the seasons. In the deep shade (under my oaks and Chaste tree), I *have* observed that the rosettes will grow much larger than their full-sun counterparts, which is to be expected.

This is a shaded display pot of Gold Nugget, Sanford, and Sunset.