I planted a shade garden on the north side of my house last summer. On the other side of my house, where it's sunny, I have a lot of bright flowering perennials, so I decided to concentrate more on foliage in the shade. The shade garden is now my favorite, and I'm planning to put in another shade garden this summer. I planted lamium, astilbe, ferns, tiarella, heuchera, polygonatum, cimicifuga, ligularia, and probably a few more. A lot of these plants have flowers, but when they don't have flowers they look good too. They were all also deer resistant, if that matters. I'm in a much colder zone, so I'm not sure if these will all work in Virginia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shade garden pictures

Jugglerguy I really enjoyed seeing those pictures. What a lovely job done for your house. Beautiful beds.

Lovely, and thanks.

mhagood,
don't know much about everything else, but willing to bet that gladiolus in such position will be complete disappointment. They need at least 4-5 hours (5-6 would be even better) of sun in well drained bed.
In your zone they will be completely hardy perennials and you should find them more suitable permanent home to enjoy them for years.
Suggestion, plant them 2-3" deeper than suggested in clumps of 6-10 or more for easier management.

Salvia koyame