Roadside plants, weed or?

[Tristan_He]

Somebody think they are just "weeds" - it is not uncommon to spray the roadsides with herbicides>

That used to be common practise in the UK too, but it happens much less regularly these days. Actually roadside verges can be some of the best places for plants now, as they are not fertilised or sprayed and are often seeded with wildflower mixes. This is both because of greater appreciation of wildlife and because councils need to save money. There is a superb stand of Betonica officinalis on a bypass near us which I will try to photograph one of these days.

The flip side of this is that so much farmland is now just a green desert.    Modern farming and wildlife just are not compatible it seems.

[Gabriela]

Some more roadside "weeds"
I made a short stop at 1150 asl not far from Haugastøl on Rv7 (one of the roads from east to west) which crosses the Hardangervidda plateau.
One of the small lakes along the road. Snow lingers still at this altitude.

What a treat to have Bartsia and Pedicularis as roadside 'weeds' Trond!
Not that it matters much but, as far as I know, Linnaeus was quite fond on Bartsch.

[Hoy]

A few more I didn't show the other day.

Sea thrift (Armeria maritima). This shouldn't be here! A common plant along the rocky coast and never far from the sea. And now here at 1200m and 1/2m from the car wheels!




Sibbaldia procumbens grows everywhere where the competition is low.




Veronica alpina with nice but sadly very small blue flowers.




Red campion (Silene dioica) is as common up here as it is along the coast.




Purple gentian (Gentiana purpurea) is very common along this road and hundreds of plants grow at the road shoulder.

[ian mcdonald]

I think thrift is sometimes spread during gritting. A common roadside "weed" around our area is early scurvey grass, Cochlearia danica.

[Robert]

Eremocarpos (Croton) setigerus, and Centaurea solstitialis are commonly seen roadside weeds at this time of year (lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains). 

[fermi de Sousa]

Years ago when visiting my parents at Christmas we saw a patch of white flowers at the side of the road. On investigation they turned out to be an ixia - possibly Ixia polystachya.
Today we saw that the patch had grown - possibly because the area had been ploughed-up a few years ago which would've spread the corms and seeds!
These pics were taken with the phone so not the best
cheers
fermi