Carolina Gardening: Need suggestions for problem spot., 1 by DebinSC

DebinSC wrote:
Wasn't sure where to post this, but I figure close to home makes sense. :)
I have this spot in my backyard 'dell', which is what we call this large sort-of woodland area covered with ivy. It wasalmost totally shaded by tall pines but last year one had to be cut down. Which brings me to my question.

I had a row of alpinia in the stretch between the sago, and the alpinia you can see beneath the h-bird feeder. I had to move them all because they were burning from the sun. This spot only gets a few hours of sun at late morning-midday (4 hours maybe?), but it's enough that my shade lovers can't take it. You can probably see that even the ivy there has gone brown in patches.

I'd like to put in a few of something else that will be maybe a couple of feet tall at most, and fairly substantial so it stands out over the ivy. Obviously, the trees and ivy drink alot of water so it needs to be tolerant of soil that's not always moist. Hoping for everygreen as well.
I thought of Fatsia or Euphorbia possibly?

It would be better if the ivy weren't there, but we inherited it and it is WELL established...nearly impossible to get it out of there so we're workin' with it. :)

Any thoughts, suggestions would be very much appreciated! (Can post other pics from diff. angle if needed.)
Deb