Zach Buchanan Buchanan's Interview

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, guess what we're doing this hour. We have a
special guest, Zach Buchanan from Buchanan's Native Plants in the
Heights on Eleventh Street, and I'm really looking forward to
visiting with Zach. We're gonna pick his brain about some
various things, including native plants and things like that. So
let's go here and bring Zach in.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Zach, are you there, I'm here, Yeah, thank you for
having me.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hey, thanks for being on. I really appreciate that. It's good.
Good to hear your voice again. Uh, well, I wanted
wanted first of all, just kind of ask you about
how are things going there at Buchanans. What's new? I
know you guys did a real nice renovation there of
your checkout area, But was that about a year ago

(00:44):
where you now people can even in warm days like today,
have some shade and fans to stand under when they
are going through the checkout. That was that was nice
to have that all weather edition. But just kind of
want to hear on what's up with Buchanans these days.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, we did do that renovation about a year ago.
Now we're really happy with the end results where it's
a more secure and climate friendly area for our cash
team to stay for the day, stay for the day,

(01:23):
and for customers getting out of the heat, there's ventilation,
breeze comes through. It's really nice. And of course, going
into hurricane season that's always a fear for us, and
this is a really secure new building that we don't
have to worry about flying away the next time of storm.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Com You guys had some doozy storms come through there,
and so absolutely, I think it's I think it's a
lovely edition that's really really nice there.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Thank you. Yeah, and we're in mode at the nursery,
so we're available for all customers. There's far fewer customers
this time of year, which is outstandable with the weather
being what it is. But we like to tell people
you can plant year round in Houston, and we're there

(02:19):
to answer any questions and help make really appropriate selections
for any application. Well.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
And your team is so well trained and they do
such a good job of directing people, you know, to
where they want to go and stuff you do have.
Even though it is summertime though, there's a lot of
cool things for kiddos going on out there. On the
twenty four this coming Wednesday, You've got at ten o'clock
the free class on nature binocular craft for the little kiddo's.

(02:51):
Y'all are always having things like that going on.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, we've really tried to focus this summer on having
a lot of activities for kids that are off school
and parents looking for things to do early in the
morning before it gets ridiculously hot. So you know, check

(03:16):
our website, check our events page, follow us on Instagram
or Facebook, and we're always highlighting what's going on that week.
And I think they're a lot of fun. They walk
kids walk away with something, having created something, and it's

(03:36):
just kind of nice to be in the in that
area of the garden and with the plants again early
in the morning before it gets too hot.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
Right, Yeah, that's that is nice, And you know, even
though it is hot. I was talking earlier today about
you can plant whenever you want to plant if you
just take care of play. You know that. I don't
know if you're happy to be tuned in at the time,
but I was just saying that, you know, you've got
a plant. Let's just since we're talking to you sitting
there at Buchanans on your property and it's in a

(04:10):
container and it's going to be alive and fine all
summer and into the fall. And so why can't that
plant be in your garden. Well, if you treat it
with a little bit of water each day, like it's
being taken care of there at Buchanans, you can do
the same thing in your yard. You can plant in
summer if you want to. You know, it just just
got toust care for it. Now you may want to

(04:30):
comment on that just a little bit.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, I mean, I I mean, it's it's going to
do a lot or have a lot better chances in
the ground in the summer than it doesn't a container
in our garden center. In the summer we're watering at
least every day, if not twice a day some stuff.
And if you plant in the summer, we're an advocate

(04:55):
of planting year round. But yeah, it's just about attention
and maintaining that care. But it requires a lot less
care in the ground than it does on our tables
in the garden center.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yes, well that's true. Just folks just need to remember
where the roots are. They're still in that cylinder after
you put them in the ground, they're still in the cylinder,
and that's where the water's got to be to keep them,
keep them adequately.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Absolutely, And I mean I can I can go on
a lot about watering and proper watering techniques, but I
always tell people like longer and more spaced out waterings.
So water for longer than you think you need the
water where those where that water is hopefully getting even

(05:47):
below where the roots are, to encourage root growth deeper
into the ground. But then take a break between waterings.
It's like watering every day isn't necessary for new plantings.
Putting a little space between those so that they those
roots can search out water, I think is a really

(06:08):
good tactic for getting things established.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
And I think you see that as you drive around
the neighborhoods too. You know, you kind of witness people
watering in a lot of different ways, a lot of
different schedules. Absolutely, It's just, yeah, it's an area where
I get asked questions sometimes like okay, so how long

(06:32):
do I let my lawn water sprinklers go? And it's like, well,
it depends on how much water they're putting out. And
that's why we like to use little insided containers to
get an idea, Well, how long does it take in
your lawn with your sprinkler heads to put an inch
of water out, and it's gonna be different than your
neighbor in many cases. So being able to kind of
have a clue on what your system is doing is

(06:55):
a good start too, you know, zach them up against
a break. Here, go ahead and answer, and then we're
going to take a little break and be back. Go
ahead and finish with.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
I just wanted to say we had a very beloved
employee who would recommend putting like a tunic can out
in the yard when you're sprinkler's running to see you know,
you're talking about street sided to see like how how
long how long does it take to get to an

(07:27):
inch of watering? And that's a good kind of like
easy metric. But but yeah, I could go on a
long time about what I see in my neighborhood people watering,
like in the middle of the afternoon, trying to water
their lawns and just kind of thinking that's not the
best method. But I'm not going to go knock on

(07:48):
doors and tell people they're doing it.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
But you know, we do need a little more humidity
in Houston, so they're helping with that. So right, all right,
let's take a little break. We'll be right back. Welcome
back to Guardline, folks. We're here with Zach Buchanan from
Buchanan's Native Plants on Eleventh Street in the Heights, And
if you haven't been out there, today'd be a good

(08:11):
day to run out and check the place out. It's
a lovely spot to go shopping and so many good
plant options they do have. You know, the native is
in the plant name, and we're going to talk about
natives here with Zach in just second. But just realize
this that it is not just a place that only
sells native plants. I got the best selection of natives
anywhere in the region, but they also have a lot

(08:34):
of other things. One of the things I like to
do when I go to Buchanans is going to the
house plant Greenhouse because there is so many house plants,
foliage plants, succulent plants, a string of you name its
in there. Lots and lots and lots of wonderful, wonderful
house plants, that's true with vegetables and herbs and other
things as well. Just a great place to go. Hey, Zach,

(08:57):
I want to bring you back on here with us
i'd like to I'd like to hear from you. You
guys have been doing native plants for a very long
time and you know them well. And by the way,
I think you'll do an excellent job on your website
with native plant education. I would encourage anybody listening go
to Buchanan's a native plants website. It is buchanansplants dot

(09:20):
com and sign up for their text club, sign up
to receive the newsletter, and when you're there check out
the resources, the how to videos, the plant library, the
gardening articles, the gardening guides, and other things that they have.
It's really really helpful. But Zach, I'd like you to
tell me what are some natives that you think or

(09:42):
maybe underutilized that you know, maybe they just haven't hit
the big time yet. People need to take more advantage
of these plants that stand out to you.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, first, thank you for all the kind words. We
work hard to make our way inside a resource for people.
I you know, I was at the I was at
the garden center yesterday kind of like looking around at
some of our natives that we have in stock and
looking for, you know, some that maybe I feel like

(10:15):
are slept on like you said, and one that I
I feel like we've only started carrying maybe the last
like ten years, and I remember seeing it on on
availabilities and bringing it in having not had it in
prior prior to that, I feel like is a fragrant mimosa.

(10:42):
It's a native a small native shrub. It's about three
to four feet but it has kind of those that
pink powder puff flower that the Mossa trees have. But
this is a native of shrub that can can actually

(11:03):
do really well in dry conditions or in the zero
escape bed. It gets covered with these pink flowers kind
of through spring through summer, and I think it's it's
just a really nice accent plant. You know, it's not
like nice to touch because it can be kind of

(11:27):
sticky and thorny. But I think used in the right conditions,
are in the right spaces, I think it can be
a really cool addition to a to a garden. And
and you know, just because it does zero escape and
it's drought tolerant doesn't mean it can't work in in
like regular Houston yards. This is where proper watering comes

(11:53):
into play and also proper planting. Planting things kind of
higher rather than uh it in a in a bowl
where water is going to gather. It is really important
to consider when planting things.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, that's true. Like the Texas Mount Warel is another
one like that.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
I love fragrant I love fragrant remo. So the little
they look to me, they almost look like little little
uh pink fire Gosh, the firecracker explosions in the air.
You know where it goes, Well, it pops and it
goes on all directions. Imagine like it's flying out pink

(12:34):
and all colors, and on the ends has got little
white or yellowish tips on them. And oh, it's a
wonderful place. You know what it's good for though we don't.
We don't fuss about the thorns. We plant them under
our daughter's bedroom windows, Zach. That's what that power us for.
And so that way you're making sure nobody's crawling in
or out at any time of day. And so there
we go. You heard it here first on garden Line, folks. Anyway,

(12:58):
it is a wonderful It is a wonderful plant. It's
got some look at galotthorn, so you don't want to
tangle with it. But it's a great great plant. Yeah,
good idea.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah, also also a nectar plant that it brings in
compollinators with its nectar source. I feel like this this
plant is I see it around enough, but I don't
I don't know that it's I don't know that people

(13:29):
are as aware of its kind of resiliency and and
I think it's just a really great accent but a
giant cone flower. So this is this isn't like the
regular kind of small shrubby rebecca. This is a Rebecca
that sends up like tall stalks with flowers at the end.

(13:56):
I feel like I've seen them get to, you know,
five or six feet tall. But it's it's a it
gives you that kind of ray sun looking bloom at
the top of these tall socks, and the foliage is
kind of bluish green. But what I love about it

(14:18):
is that it can actually do really well in boggy conditions.
So if you have like a full sun spot in
your yard, but it's it's maybe a little lower in
grade or elevation and water gathers there, this plant can

(14:41):
handle it and and it will really thrive in those conditions. Again,
not to say it can't work in every area of
your full sun parts on garden. But I think it
it's a good solution for those low spots that a
lot of people struggle with.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, and I've noticed, you know, driving down the roads,
you'll see it in a ditch like that off the
side of the road and areas that stay a little too.
I like the fact that the foliage is a little
silvery to the green. It's it's it's not just flat green.
And boy, those those bloomstalks are there's something to write

(15:24):
home about. That's amazing good idea.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
I think. I think that foliage color is really something
important for people to consider when when you know, designing
their their garden beds, is like that this color is
going to stand out, It's going to provide some contrast.

(15:48):
It's something to break up kind of maybe the monotony
of all similar greens. You want this different texture, different
color to kind of mix in there. And I think
it's a really good solution.

Speaker 1 (16:05):
That's that is that is a good point at our landscapes,
as I often say, become a sea of green in summer.
Green grass, green, green ground covered green, trees and greens
are pretty color and their variations on green, but there's
there's some other there's some other options that we have
and so that's a good one and this is a good,
dependable perennial for us too.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Here yes, yes, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
All right, I like that one. Good and uh any other? Uh?
What are some other plants that let's continue on. We're
coming up. Oh, I'm Zach. I'm sorry I asked you
that question, and then I looked at my clock and
I've got twenty seconds to a hard break. So let
me let you think about that just for a second
and we'll come back to that. I'm sorry to do

(16:48):
that to you, folks, will be right back. We're talking
about Zach Buchanan from Buchanan's Native Plants. Stay tuned, we'll
be right back. You don't want to miss this. We've
got some cool new plants that I bet you don't
have in your landscape but you need coming up. So
we're visiting with Zach Buchanan for Buchanan's Native Plants right
now this morning, kind of picking his brain about a
lot of topics related to native plants. If you've never

(17:10):
been to Buchanans, it's on Eleventh Street in the Heights,
and you need to go. Fact today'd be a good
day to get out there and check it out, see
what it is that we're talking about. We're going to
bring Zach back in here, and Zach, thanks for hanging
out with us a little bit this morning. We are
in the process of talking about some plants you feel
like might be underutilized that people ought to give a

(17:32):
closer look to. And I'd like to just turn you
loose to kind of continue with some of those kinds
of plants that you think people ought to know about.
All right, I think we've got I don't know, Zach,
if you're hearing me, I'm going to put you back
on hold justin. Will you check that out, make sure

(17:54):
we can get him back on here, and then we'll
bring him right back. So Jack's been telling us about
a number of the plants that as he's talking about,
I'm thinking like fragrant mimosa. I grew up in South
Texas and fragrant mimosa, excuse me, was a native plant

(18:14):
out in the south and just kind of west to
San Antonio. You see a lot of it too, and
it's a great plan. I've completely forgotten about that plant,
but it is Hello.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Hello.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
Option. As an example, to hear me, Hey, there you are. Yes,
we got you back. Now. We were just going to say,
let's continue on with some of the plants you feel
like people need to know about.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, absolutely so. I don't know if this is a
sluedt gone plant. I don't see it use a lot.
I think it maybe gets overlooked a little bit because
there's a lot of different varieties. But but I've I've
had good experience with land sleef coreopsis. I spread some

(18:58):
seeds in a bed a few years ago, and it
kind of comes back every spring and it just kind
of flowers non stop through spring, and it's got yellow,
kind of daisy like flowers. But I get a lot

(19:22):
of comments, like of neighbors of people walking by that
just love kind of like the look of it and
and how it looks in a bed like a sea
of all these I wouldn't say they're small, but you know,
mid size yellow flowers that are are shining through the landscape,

(19:44):
and I just don't see it a whole lot used
out there, and I think maybe it's a little more
slept on it than it should be.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, that's a good point. I like the fact that
the stems are like thin and white and so as
the breeze blows, they kind of move around, floating above
the foliage like that. And also something we like to
do when get when guests come over is in the bathroom,
put a little vase with some flowers in it. You know,
I'm not talking about a giant arrangement or anything, but

(20:17):
just a small vase with flowers. And it's really good
for that, you know, the little long wiry stems and
put put in the vase with some other flowers. It
really brightens up the room.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
And you can kind of you deadheaded. It'll keep blooming
when summer comes. Mine kind of start to look bad
and I'll yank them out. But but they've they've already
set seed for next spring, and it's just like it
comes back very reliably, and it's a it's a nice

(20:49):
surprise when it starts popping up in the bed.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Good all right? Any other plants.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
One that I you know, I try to I think
turn people onto, but I think they're maybe confused by
its name or or what they assume it's going to be.
But like a nice native ornamental tree that I really
like and I would love to see used more. I'd
love to have a place for the mic yard. Is

(21:21):
rough leaf dogwood. It's a you know, it's about fifteen
foot tall tree when it gets to its max height,
so not unmanageably large. And it's a Texas native native

(21:43):
to Harris County, which is ideal for us. But it
blooms white, so it has a flower. It's a cluster
of white flowers in the spring, and then after that
it sets fruit. And the fruit is white as well.

(22:07):
But it's great for pollinators and birds because of that.
So the flowers attract pollinators, the fruit attracts birds. It's
a fast growing tree. And I just think, I think
a lot of people you know, want that dog would
look uh, but dog woods aren't necessarily you know, don't

(22:32):
do great in our climate this far south. But this
can be a kind of a place filler.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah. And and just for clarification for folks listening in that,
don't think of a like a bloom like a dog
who's you know, four big petal sticking out. Think of
more of us of a cluster like like you would
see you know, oh gosh, like yeah, pentas pentas. Yeah,

(23:07):
that's a good example. Yeah, white blooms. It's a great one,
and it's native really from here all the way across
in the coastal Gulf coast or region going east, as
well as even goes further up north. So it's a
pretty tough, hardy plant.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Absolutely, yeah, I think I think it was very hardy.
It's the rough leaf part of it. It's like a
like a piece of sandpaper kind of so and that
and that tells me it's like this can handle some abuse,
whether from the drought of the cold.

Speaker 1 (23:45):
Do you have another quick one that we can do
right before we go to a break here? Any other
plants that rise up on the list, I'm.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Gonna I was gonna highlight one that's maybe not the
true native, but I do think is maybe not used
as much that I saw at the garden center and
I really like. But it's Mexican oregano. You know, we
think of regano as an herb, which is awesome. You

(24:16):
can plant that in the landscape as well. But this
Mexican oregano is a is like a small shrub that
blooms purple flowers, kind of lavender pink flowers, and it
can be used for cooking. I've used it in place

(24:37):
of you know, when I'm out of oregano or something.
I think some people even prefer it as as a
oregano source. But I just think I think it's so
attractive and cool, and I think, you know, if you
were if you had a swath of them, it would

(24:59):
it would lookautiful with those flowers, these you know, kind
of trumpet shaped lavender flowers, and and then the fragrance
of just like being near it, running your hands over it,
any type of like agitation of it is just going
to send up those those oils and that fragrance that

(25:21):
I think is it's a really nice surprise, especially in
a in a ornamental bed, having things that can be used,
whether it's true herbs like rosemary or regino lavender, it's

(25:41):
just a nice thing to like kind of break up
that monotony of of just like landscape plants, traditional landscape.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
It's a great one and you can share it back
if you want to keep it a little more kind
of bushy compacts and stuff. It real well to that too,
and I think it's a great choice. Hey, we got
to take our final break here, but we'll be back
with Zach Buchanan. Folks, stick around. I've got a little
follow up question I want to visit with him about
and I think you'll want to hear this all right,

(26:12):
So to back for our last segment of the hour
with Zach Buchanan from Buchanan's Native Plants. We had talk
about native plants and things like that, and Zach, I'd
like to bring you back in here. Let's see here
that I'm trying to decide which direction to take. Should
we talk about some plants that attract hummingbirds or should
we talk about some plants for those challenging areas of shade.

(26:35):
You know, a lot of things want to look good
in the sun, but what do you do when you
have a shady area? You want to tackle one of
those categories as we talk about some more plant ideas.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Absolutely, I agree that shade gardening can be really challenging.
There's maybe not quite as many options as there are
for sun hot areas, especially natives and in the hot

(27:06):
uh Texas Houston area. But but I think there's some
really excellent options that people should consider and incorporate in
their in their shade garden.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Okay, what are what are some that you think would
be top ten kind of level plans?

Speaker 2 (27:28):
I mean, one that I've kind of I feel like
I've been scared of them in the past because they
seem so delicate, but I think some of the native
varieties really aren't that delicate as ferns, Like southern wood
fern is a really kind of party durable plant, and

(27:51):
if there's a shady area that gets regular watering, this
thing can thrive and spread and make a really kind
of beautiful swath of of what looks like a delicate
fern from but it's really uh, is really kind of

(28:13):
strong and uh and resilient.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
I feel like, mm hmm, Yeah, that is a good one.
That is a good option. Yeah, and I'm almost.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
One that I another fern that I don't think is native,
but it's a holly fern. I've been seeing that used
really well, and that that's even even more resilient and
can take kind of, honestly a lot of abuse in

(28:48):
my in my experience, and it's just kind of yes,
is a is a evergreen or semi evergreen pretty much
evergreen from from what I've seen in the last few winters,
fern that has kind of like I don't want to
say leathery leaves, but you know, thicker than what we

(29:11):
think of for ferns usually, but I really like that
and kind of doing like a row of them in
the shade or or kind of like a little patch
of them. But I like that one as well.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Right, And you know, the nice thing about some of
these ferns is if you need to, you can just
cut them back almost to the ground and let them
come back fresh out again. You know, if things start
to work a little on you, it doesn't hurt to
do that. Just provide them a little water. And yeah,
I love holly fern. That's a good choice.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Yeah. I think also there's a lot of really good
grasses and sedges to consider for shade areas. One that
I've seen a lot, but I've started seeing, like I
guess maybe talked about more is Weberville's edge, which is

(30:06):
just kind of a low growing grass. I saw online
someone talking about like almost using it and planting it
to take the place of mulch in a garden bed
because it just kind of grows up and then falls

(30:28):
over and it can just kind of make like a
almost a carpet is planted, right, And I think it's
just like a really cool native grass that and I
don't think gets used as much just because again, like

(30:49):
a lot of these natives, like in the garden center,
when it's on a table in a little pot, it's
it's not giving you the full experience of what it's
going to do when it's in the landscape. And I
think that can be a challenge for people when they're
shopping for plants. But what I love about it is

(31:09):
that it's it's it's like a surprise. You don't really
know what it's going to do. You have, you have
an idea how it should look in the container, it
looks really underwhelming, but then you get at home and planted,
it starts growing and starts showing off. And then even
as years go by and it gets more established, it'll

(31:33):
come back in spring and really put on a show
for you. And I really love that about native plants.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yes, that is true, a lot of plants should be
more prominent in the trade, but they just they're not
attractive in a pot. They're just not Yeah, but that
doesn't mean they're not a great plan to have. You know,
we used to have a salvia called indigo spires. Then
now we have missed expires, which more compact, but indigo

(32:01):
spires just never looked good in the pot. It was
flopping around and everything, but it was a good plant.
And I think that your point is well taken. I
had forgotten about Weberville sedge, but sedges in general are great,
and you were describing that. Folks think of little clumps
and the spreading plant. When you mass them, it's like

(32:21):
a mini meadow look, and you don't have to mow it.
I mean, if you want to occasionally go back and moBack,
you can't. But it's this nice, soft, mini meadow look,
and it's an excellent groundcover. And a lot of the
sedges will receive a little bit for you there and
kind of fill on a little bit. Zac. Those are
all great ideas. The music means we're done. I hate
that because I've had a very good time visiting with you.

(32:42):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Folks.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
If you want to continue this discussion, head head over
to Buchanans. They got plenty of folks on staff or Sephanie,
the whole team there. Visit with them, pick their brains,
find solutions to the plant areas that you have. You're
going to find a whole realm of plants that you
have not experienced before that you need to, as well
as all those familiar ones that you go to, the

(33:06):
gardens that are looking for LAC. Thanks so much for
that all there. Thank you, M