I planted 80 Matrix Pansies today.  I bought them from Cornelius Nursery which was acquired by Calloway's Nursery several years ago.  My understanding is that Calloway's Nursery was started in the Dallas metro area by ex Wolfe Nursery employees.  My first job growing up in Dallas (while in High School) was at the former Wolfe Nursery location on Coit Road near the Central Expressway.  Could that be why I like gardening so much?  Anyway, it's a little late to be planning Pansies.  It's apparently better to plant them in late October so they have more time to develop their root systems before we get cold snaps like Nov 13-15 this year.  I did sprinkle 4 lbs of Calloway's Pansy Food which has a 7-11-7 formulation when I planted them.

There was some damage from the light freeze of Nov 13-15 (lows of 32, 31 & 32) as can be seen below to the Zinnias & Vinca in the bed now occupied by the Pansies.  Also, Sweet Potato Vines are very susceptible to even the slightest freeze.  However, they are related to the potato family and will sprout up from their roots when warmer weather returns in the spring!

The fall garden continues to thrive as you can see from the pics below.  The lettuce is doing great … didn't mind the cool weather one bit!  I'm starting to give away lettuce to neighbors, friends at church and folks at work.  The Yolo Wonder Bell Peppers didn't like the light freeze … but came through ok as none of the peppers were damaged … several plants are still blooming which could mean additional peppers in the near future … assuming of course we don't get a hard freeze in December.  About half of the Euryops have died … but one has cute little yellow blooms on it.  Most of the Coral Bells also bit the dust … but the one pictured below looks healthy and has beautiful coloring.

All the hard work in previous months: Lettuce Seeds planted on Aug 27 & Sep 20 indoors under grow lights … Transplanting of lettuce seedlings into the garden on Sep 27, Oct 15 & Oct 20 … have resulted in four beds of lettuce … the one in the foreground producing the lettuce picked on the right for an evening salad!  All this and the Bell Peppers are still producing as you can see below on the left.  I did pick all the Jalapeno Peppers (see pic on lower right below) on 10-22-18 from the 3 plants which were over 5 feet tall. 

Now when you plant 7 different varieties of lettuce, it's not so easy to identify the exact variety planted … unless you keep meticulous records (which I don't).  This isn't helped when you buy say a seed packet labeled Looseleaf Blend and the seeds which sprout aren't exactly the seeds listed as the 5 options per the packaging. Take for example, the following 6 Looseleaf Blend lettuce plants pictured below.  The seed packet lists 300 seeds for 5 different varieties of lettuce.  I was able to identify the four varieties shown below:

But what about that fifth variety ... Black Seeded Simpson … which one of the two below is it? … they don't look like the same variety of lettuce ... do they?   Also, the sample pics on the Burpee website aren't always that helpful anyway.  The problems of maintaining a home vegetable garden!

I also started some Sun King Broccoli seeds on Sep 20 indoors.  I transplanted them into the garden on Oct 21.  So they have been in the ground about 10 days in the pics below.  It will probably be mid January before I have broccoli to pick.  Broccoli does great during Houston winters.  Have had wonderful success in past years.

Other varieties of lettuce planted include Four Seasons, Green Ice, Antares, Sunset & Green Frills Hybrid.  Hopefully as the lettuce grows it will be easier to identify all five varieties.  Here is my best guess so far.

Switching gears to the front yard … those Ageratum seeds I transplanted about 45 days ago have been growing very slowly … but what is forming the top middle stem if you look more closely?

Last but not least, the two large pots of Hibiscus are still producing beautiful flowers … should do so until the first frost … Hibiscus won't survive Houston winters … too sensitive to cold!  I'll put in new plants next March!

Almost forgot, I took out the purple Sweet Potato Vines under the Crepe Myrtles.  They had overwhelmed the green Sweet Potato Vines.  Then I added some Gold Bar Miscanthus with its beautiful striped foliage and some Purple Fountain Grass to divide the green from the remaining purple Sweet Potato Vines as show below.