What fun to move into a house where a master gardener gardened!

I'm not an herb expert, but you photo looks like the culinary sage I've had growing for years. It has a woody gnarled trunk like your picture. Hopefully someone on here can name it for you.

Thanks Rosalee. I kind of figured that is what it was. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never had one of the cooking variety of herb plants live long enough to get woody. I traveled a lot in summertime drought season and they would always die on me, so I gave up on sage ages ago.

It also reminds me a type of betony....

Omar

Ah, the plot thickens. I see that Phlomis is a genus of over 100 species[1] of herbaceous plants, subshrubs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native from the Mediterranean region east across central Asia to China. Common names include Jerusalem sage and lampwick plant.

You may not know exactly what it is until it blooms. If the former owner planted it in a prominent place it must be something wonderful. Keep us posted as the mystery unfolds ... :-)

Thank you ladies. Bostedo, the leaves are an exact match of your little plant! Looks like it just might be phlomis then, or at least one of the types of phlomis. As you say, Rosalee, only when it blooms will I perhaps be able find out its sub-species.

Looks like lambs ear to me.

The leaf of mine is sure similar to Lamb's Ear, and you could be right, but the new leaves of mine aren't dense nor do they cluster tightly around the branches as they emerge, like I'm seeing in photographs of lamb's ear. My plant's leaves don't appear to be as wooly/fuzzy either, not even the large mature leaves. The leaves on my plant seem to emerge singly on the trunks, but no new ones have emerged since I move in that I can tell. I actually thought the plant/shrub was dying off when we moved it, and one woody trunk of it did indeed fall off, probably from lack of care/watering while it was empty before we bought/moved in in August. Summers are brutal here without frequent water.

Definitely Jerusalem Sage, Phlomis fruticosa.

Hopefully when it blooms this spring, I'll be able to tell for sure. :)

It looks a lot like a Salvia officials 'Berggarten', a culinary herb from the Mediterranean. It blooms in spring a light lavender flower

That looks like a possibility, too. I'm eager to check out any blooms this spring. :)

that could be it, I probably spoke with a little too much certainty, hard to tell those 2 apart from photos. Now you have something to look forward to in the spring.