The following do well in the shade around here: white snake root, ginger, violets, blood root, mayapple, solomon's seal, false solomon's seal, ferns. I am sure there are many others. Ernst Conservation Seeds is in PA and they could probably reccommend and sell some things that are good for your area.

bob64 gave some good suggestions, but if you have deer that rules out Solomon Seal and false solomon Seal (and Hosta). You have a wealth of plants to choose from although most bloom in the spring.

Ther are beautiful hostas of blue,yellow,white and differant shades of green follage that i plant. i have a lot of shade and i grow ferns,violets,astilbe,annual(to us)begonnias.
Have a dog that discourages deer.
There is a shade garden forum that is linked to the top of this forum,you might try there.
oakleif

Hostas and ferns do well under maples.

I have had good luck with columbine and virginia water leaf in shady areas under some oak trees in my lawn.

I have a large urn that gets practically no sun and I fill it with different varieties of coleus. They are annuals where I live so I have to refill it every year, but that is about the only thing with color that I have found grows in deep shade. You may want to try those in the deep shade.

I have had some luck with the chenille plants in the shade - but the foliage tends to look icky...but the flowers are cool. (They are annuals that I have been putting in the urn with the coleus.)

The problem with maples is not the shade but the roots that suck moisture and nourishment out of the soil. Liriope spicata will work under many maples and is deer proof.

If you want a larger shrub, try Acuba japonica. It is an evergreen shrub with yellow (usually) spots on the leaves. It can be quite dramatic. I live in Chester Co., PA, and it does well here. It grows rather slowly, and it roots easily if you want to propagte it. Mine is probably 6-10 years old, an it is about 7 ft. tall, and bushy.