I will caution you against having a lot of plants in pots. Even on a rainy day, potted plants receive insufficient water from nature. Hence, they will need to be hand watered almost daily. If you choose plants out-of-zone, they will have to be brought in for winter rather than covered since the root zone is more exposed in a planter.

I would reccomend Chamaedorea genus palms, particularly Chamaedorea seifrizii.

I'd think most any shade plants would do well--ferns, rhizomatous begonias, some gingers-- Watering can be a problem unless you enjoy the process, which unfortunately for my many potted plants I don't enough! But there are pots with reservoirs which make it more like a weekly job instead of daily, and water-absorbing crystals that help. I've found some plants do better in pots and let me grow things I couldn't grow in the ground--the combination of better drainage than we have here often, and the extra chill to the roots, can actually 'expand your horizons'. That's a large area as you say, and I think the edges would work better than the middle unless you add lights.