On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 20:36:20 -0500, Darren Garrison wrote:

Last summer I happened to drive past a yard that had a bushy plant with
really large, dangling flowers covering it. I didn't get a really close
look, but I've wanted to get one of them ever since. Since spring is on
the way, I've been trying to key-word search google and ebay to find what
the plant is. So far, I've found that it looks really similar to a
"Brugmansia" variety, but I see that Brugmansia isn't hardy to my zone, 7b
(in upper South Carolina). Is there a plant similar to Brugmansia that
handles zone 7 it could have been, or can some Brugmansia survive zone 7
winters?

Datura is another. It seems one has the flowers more pendant than the
other.

It grows easily from seed and should do quite well in zone 7. We're in
zone 4/5 and my plants were colorful, fragrant and nearly 5' by frost.
Some dig up the plants, pot them and store them over winter.

I believe it is a tropical. What you saw most likely is being grown as an
annual.