Where's Mara? She is the queen of salvia ID. I love the red against the black calyx.

Looks like salvia greggi to me

You're right that the flowers are much more like S. greggii (autumn sage), which is the initial reason I began to doubt my S. elegans "recollection". But leaves don't match and it wants to get about 2X the size of our autumn sages. Odor is similar, though incredibly stronger - one of the reasons for moving it away from the walk is that people or pets that brush against it often carry a powerful scent back into the house.... not so unpleasant, just out of place. Am wondering if it may be some sort of hybrid.

Not a great photo, but here is Salvia darcyi in a friend's garden some years ago, growing near her pond. The leaves do look similar, it was taller than S. greggii and it sure did have a strong smell. This plant was nicknamed "Stinky Sage" by the person who gave it to her.

"Stinky Sage" certainly fits - and is how it will be labeled if I ever pass along cuttings :)

I don't think it was tagged as a named variety, but this convincing me that it is probably some sort of a hybrid like this S. darcyi x microphylla 'Windwalker Royal Red Sage'.

Or.... could be a S. greggii x S. microphylla cross. Leaves really seem to show some S. microphylla ancestry.

Salvia coccinea perhaps?

Similar flower to S. coccinea (scarlet sage), but definitely something else. This one remains semi-evergreen when the freezes melt the scarlet sage volunteers around our lot. Also develops much "harder" stems and wants to grow as a much broader multi-stem plant than the more upright/V-shape of S. coccinea.

IT Could be S. greggii X micophyllia "Red Velvet"

The S. greggii X microphylla cross is looking like the best match. I don't recall it being tagged with any cultivar name, but could have missed it as an impulse buy off a display at check-out.

I think it looks most like Salvia Windwalker® 'Royal Red' (Salvia darcyi x S. microphylla).

https://www.selectseeds.com/award-winning-perennials/salvia_windwalker_royal_red_plants.aspx