Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

From your description I am afraid i can't pin down a particular plant as your mystery plant.  Since it is growing in your garden there is a high likelihood that it isn't a North American native plant, but a introduced cultivar that has escaped from someone else garden via seeds carried by the wind or birds or other wildlife.  If that is the case, we and our Native Plant Database aren't going to be much help since our focus and expertise are with North American native plants.  However, if you think it might be a native plant and would like to search for it in our database, here are a couple of different ways to do your searching.   First, since you think it is sunflower-like, you can search for it in the Family Asteraceae (Aster or Sunflower Family).  On the Native Plant Database page scroll down the list in the Family: slot and choose "Asteraceae (Aster Family)".  This will give you a list of more than 1100 plants.  Next, in the sidebar, use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option and choose "New York" from the Select State or Province, "Herb" from General Appearance, and "Yellow" and "Orange" from Bloom Color.  This will give you a more manageable list to look through.  If you think it could be in another family besides the aster/sunflower family, you can do a more general search by choosing COMBINATION SEARCH on the Native Plant Database page and then using the same criteria you used for the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option above.

If neither of the searches above helps you find the identity of your plant and if you have (or can take) photos of it, please visit our Plant Identification page where you will find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.  I recommend that you start with the UBC Botanical Garden Forums.  Be sure to read the "Important Notes..." on our page for submitting photos for identification.