Perhaps Strobilanthes.

Just googled its image and you're exactly right! It's such a handsome plant and seems untroubled by bugs. Thank you!

Untroubled by bugs? Not sure I'd ascribe that description but agree with the ID. S. dyerianus. There's some in this pot.

I hope your Googling also informed you that this plant is not going to be winter hardy in a zone 7 garden! It either needs to be treated as an annual (and will die off with cold weather) or dug up and grown indoors as a houseplant.

quick check says frost tender .. or is it sage in z7 ..??? ...[BTW.. big city name is better that just giving us minimum winter temp.. which is all zone is ... any given zone can be very divergent in many other variables that might be more important that just temp] .... in this case.. your other post says potomac.. so today. i know you are somewhere on teh east coast by a river of that name.. thought without looking it up.. being the east coast.. there could be many states involved in where .. tomorrow.. in the next post ... i wont remember the river ..

is this something you might take a few cuttings and keep indoors as a houseplant over winter..

or would that just be a PIA???

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Strobilanthes+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

Golly!! Lots of verbiage for not much info!! If one is determining winter hardiness, then zone designation is ALL that is required! That is afterall the reason the zonal map was developed in the first place.

You are most welcome John. It is indeed a handsome plant and you will be able to see what your neighbors do with it. It will be interesting to see if they leave it, dig it or take cuttings.

Thanks all! We had a frost warning for last night, so when we take our daily walk later, I'll see if it had any damage. I don't know the owners, so I can't ask for a cutting--which is just as well since I have too many plants, as is! (Don't we all?)

The nickname I've always heard is Persian shield. Not hard to find @ stores in the spring, when the summer plants come in. I've had mixed results trying to keep them going over winter. The pot in my pic above is inside now.

Haha, Virginia, I read your name as John Saunt!