It Turns Out This Is A Beautiful Plant In Our Garden

My wife and I had been wondering if this plant that appeared in our flower bed this spring was, in fact, a plant or if it was a weed. Thanks to your expertise, we now know what it is.

I posted yesterday how we'd noticed this big plant earlier this spring in our flower bed, but didn't know what it was. (The perennials in our yard were planted by people who owned the house way before us, so we don't really know what they are-- we're just glad they keep blooming each year!)

But this one plant had us stumped. It looked like a weed to me earlier this year, but then it starting sporting these lovely purple blooms, which made me think it was a plant.

And, thanks to your help, it looks like it might be... a plant!

Thanks to Quick Country 96.5 listeners like Zoei Lyn Dallman Pritchard‎ and others, we think the plant might be a salvia, which according to this Better Homes & Gardens site, is a type of sage.

This diagnosis was even confirmed by our own Quick Country staff chief botany officer, Steve Richards, who noted that salvia is "a useful perennial that attracts hummingbirds. Rabbits & deer tend to leave it alone due to the course leaf & pungent aroma."

So, thanks for the help, everybody. And yes, we'll be leaving it right where it is in our garden!