It's A Swamp Thing

An essential part of the Minnesota landscape is the blanket of cattails that can be found in nearly every wetlands area.  In late fall, these turn light brown.

Since I'm modeling late fall/early winter, in Minnesota, and I have some low-lying areas to fill, I need some of these brown cattails.  I've seen fake fur used to simulate tall grasses before, and I'm thinking it might work for cattails as well.  I haven't been able to find any tan fur, so I bought some white fur and painted it.  Not bad, but I think I need to darken it up a bit.