Roadside Plants in Winter

     Several kinds of adaptable wild plants enhance country roadsides in the mid-Atlantic States during winter.  The beauties of these common plants make rides and walks in local farmland more interesting and enjoyable during that harshest of seasons.  And that attractive vegetation benefits several species of wildlife through winter.
     Patches of the familiar cattails and ten-foot-tall phragmites inhabit constantly moist spots along roadsides.  And the decorative seed heads of each species adds beauty to many local roadsides.  Phragmites have plume-like seed heads that are especially attractive when the low-lying, winter sunlight shines through them.  
     Wildlife hides among the stalks of cattails and phragmites, muskrats eat cattail roots and use the stalks to make homes in ponds.  And certain kinds of small birds, particularly American goldfinches, use cattail fluff in their nests.      
     Broomgrass and foxtail grass are attractive along country roads.  Broomgrass has pale-orange stems in winter that glow beautifully in sunlight.  Foxtail grass's fuzzy seed heads are appealing when the sun shines through them.  And field mice and sparrows consume the seeds of this type of grass. 
     Teasel and common mullein plants are attractive along rural roads in winter.  Teasel seed heads are sculptured and spiky, and were once used in Europe to tease out wool. 
     The tall common mullien stalks look a bit like thin cacti, with a main stem and one or two stems protruding from the sides of the plants.  During medieval times in Europe, mullien stalks were dipped in animal fat.  That fat soaked into the empty seed chambers and were later lit as torches to be used at night. 
     Both teasel and mullien plants produce multitudes of tiny seeds that fall out of small pockets and drop to the ground.  There they are eaten by a variety of sparrows and finches through winter.
     Multitudes of tiny goldenrod and aster seeds have fluff which is most attractive when sunlight shines through it on winter days.  Each bit of fluff carries its seed away on the wind, which is pretty to see in itself.  Sparrows and finches ingest the seeds of goldenrods and asters.
     Bittersweet vines produce multitudes of attractive, bright-orange berries and multiflora rose and tartarian honeysuckle bushes have striking and abundant red berries that help beautify rural roadsides in winter. 
     Bittersweet climbs trees and drapes over shrubbery.  Those vines and the two bushes mentioned produce brightly colored berries so birds will find them to consume through winter. 
     Bittersweet and the two bushes mentioned here provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife.  Rodents and American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings, starlings and other kinds of berry-eating birds consume the brightly colored berries of these roadside plants.  The birds ingest the beautiful berries, digest their pulp, but pass the seeds in their droppings, thus spreading each kind of vegetation across the landscape.
     Staghorn sumac trees and red juniper trees produce attractive fruits that are also eaten by rodents and the berry-eating birds listed above.  Sumacs produce beautiful pyramid-shaped stacks of red, fuzzy berries while junipers grow lovely, pale-blue, berry-like cones.  Again, the birds digest the pulp of each fruit, but pass the seeds as they travel about, spreading these plant species across the land.
     When riding or walking along country roads in winter, watch for these plants.  They, and the wildlife they attract to themselves, will lend much beauty and interest to the traveler.