I wish I had a picture to post. We recently moved into a house with several old scraggly flowerbeds in the back yard. There was one species of flower that did well this summer. It's a very tall flower plant with a stalk and leaves that bend downwards and it has an orange flower on top. I should know the name of this as I see them in yards all over northwest Alabama. I have seen them now and then with a different color flower. They are dying and turning brown now as fall sets in. Can someone help please?
'Angel Trumpets', properly known as brugmansia, come in three basic colors---yellow/orange, white, and pink. They're root-hardy here, but die back to the soil line when the temps fall below 28 degrees for more than a few hours. They're very easy to root, IF you take cuttings before frost comes. They flower at night, and are wonderfully fragrant. They rarely set seed in this area.
They have a smaller cousin, Datura, which is a tender perennial that's easily grown from seed. Here's a pic of some daturas:
