Mike, that kind of question is a bit to broad to be answered easily. There are simply too many that do very well here.....thousands! Surely you don't want us to list plants that don't do well, lol.

I'd like to see you do a careful inventory, if you will, of your site.....how much of it provides sun, shade, or in between? How is the soil's drainage? How much of your yard will be devoted to grass, shrubs, trees, and plants like annuals, bulbs, and flowering perennials?

Once you have an idea of the type of plants you need, e.g. low growing evergreen foundation plants, flowering specimens, shade trees, etc., then you could visit some locally owned garden centers to see what is available and likely to be successful. (Places like Lowe's will sell you lilacs and blue spruce and sago palms even though they are not appropriate.)

By the time you've done your homework, you can come here or the busier Shrubs or Trees forums (just for example) and ask something like, "I'm looking for some dwarf evergreen and deciduous shrubs for the full sun in Northern Alabama. Got any ideas? Clay soil, but drains well."

Hope this helps.

Well I was thinking lilac ,,,red leaf trident maple,, rhodadendron,,

Double check your zone also, there was an update and you might be 8a now.

I live in guntersville area 30 miles southeast of Huntsville

I see some sites showing 7b-8a. The 2012 USDA map shows 7b. Transition zone trickery. It gets hot enough to plant like 8a but cold like 7b.

I have 2 windmill palms and a needle palm in the yard

I know what u mean them B zones are tricky I lived in Kissimmee florida most of my life till I moved here in 05 and there was 9b and u could grow quite a few zone 10a plants most years unless you got the freeze from hell then start over again

I have a fig that gets frozen below 10f and gets burnt back about every 15 years.

Yeah in 2010 mine got frozen back but in a couple years I had good figs again. I looked at what u said I live on top of the mountain between Arab and guntersville I'm a solid 7b but in the valley below around guntersville there are zone 8a areas mixed in the 7b area but lake guntersville is big and has a positive influence on that area

micro climate. Smart observation.

Well I'm still gunshy on having zone 8 plants love to have a pittaporum and sweet Viburnum, and pordacarpus but I'm trying to grow confederate jasmine I miss that sweet smell

A tea olive for me.

Now tea olive dose well here