Great blue color! Not a big Echium fan myself, but they are pretty.

Thank You...have to admit that I'm bonkers about all echiums....

http://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/crop/natural%20areas/wr_E/Echium_vulgare.pdf

I'm assuming the link will say that it's 'invasive', but I have not yet found that to be the case for me here. I have other plants considered invasive and just weed out what I don't need...Verbena bonariensis, Nassella tenuissima,etc...

The main reason that I'm not worried about this plant being 'invasive' is that when most of the other flowering plants that are beneficial to insects have just finished flowering, this one patch of echium is keeping them going....they are COVERED with bees and butterflies......my neighbors mostly grow grass...period. So I will save the seed from this and plant a lot more in my beds...when I have all that I need, then the seed heads will be cut for disposal, not sowing. The same goes for any other plants...if they are considered invasive and you want to grow them, cut the seed heads when they've finished flowering.

Link is from the University of California at Davis.

Out-competes pasture and grassland vegetation and quickly becomes the dominant species

However, even the link you provided lists the western states where E. vulgare is listed as a noxious weed to be Washington and Montana. California Invasive Plant Inventory Database lists only Echium candicans (E. fastuosum), but gives it a relatively low rating of limited.

Even with e. candicans (which produces lots of seedlings in SoCal), I had a large swath of that echium...they did produce lots of seedlings that I didn't need...outside the swath they were just mowed down, inside, extras were dug and given away ...no problem..

If I want to grow something invasive, I just cut the seedheads before they can self-sow. If it's something that will spread by runners, I have to give it careful thought.

I have been given a Harlequin Glorybower that I would like to plant and I see that it is recommended to plant it where you can mow down suckers...will have to think about that one....

Official State noxious weed listings are seldom comprehensive. What matters is that U.C. Davis is calling it a weed. And that other sources show it to be a widespread pest - it is just a matter of time before additional States start listing it.

And what happens if you suddenly aren't able to deadhead your known western weeds collection? You've made arrangements for somebody else to come in and curb or eliminate them? All it takes is for your control measures to stop - or be defeated somehow - and then they can start spreading out from this foothold you have established - and are maintaining. This is why such plants are referred to as "garden escapes" or "escaped ornamentals" - they left the confines of cultivation and became problematic.

I've been deadheading plants for 50 years, I do suppose I might drop dead in the garden soon....

But...now you've made me consider and I'm going to go write it into my will right now, that when I die, someone better go dig those plants out right away....