Again, Penjing MUST be in a container to be a Penjing. That's what makes it Penjing. Sorry to split hairs, but calling it penjing and proceeding on that basis could lead you down the wrong path on how to accomplish either. The practice of miniturizing in ground landscapes has an extremely long history in China and Japan. A thousand years ago, Chinese emperors had their gardeners re-create in miniature (covering a hundred acres or less) entire sections of their kingdom, includin mountains, plains and rivers. The Japanese continued this practice and some of those techniques live on in Japanese gardening... Probably the best place for you to ask is on the Japanese Gardening forum, as you are asking about that and not Penjing or Bonsai--both of which are containerized gardens.

I just got finished reading a garden book that an absolute hoot! Art Wolk's "Garden Lunacy" really gets inside the world of obsessed gardeners. There are Hortiholics Anonymous Meetings, the gardener's Ten Commandments, horticultural mistakes made in movies, and other very funny topics. He also tells about the craziness he endured to win the Philadelphia Flower Show's Grand Sweepstakes, and what it's really like on TV garden shows and "Better Homes and Gardens" photoshoot. I especially enjoyed a chapter on non-gardeners and our inability to get along with them. This is one of those books you read and see yourself in, all the while laughing hysterically. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Lunacy

In this economy I think many folks will be staying home more and will look to ways to save on food. Vegetable plantings is a great way to go. I learned many of my techniques simply watching shows like Gardening Naturally (thanks for helping me recall the name of that show Marg). In that show I learned more about proper composting, the use of manure, seaweed of all things, and other stuff. Sure it certainly may not appeal to all audience, but it was very imformative. Too bad we no longer have such shows. The new Victory Garden - well it's simply rehashed segments with a new host - Jamie Durie, a well known garden designer/landscaper from Australia. The show focuses mainly on designing on a grand scale - although it does emphasis green techniques, water conservation, etc.. It does have a small segment with Kip as the actual gardener and Chef Michel cooking the organic way. However it just doesn't have that 'Organic feel' to it. It seemed too Hollywood or too New Age. In my opinion -- good eye candy, not much on substance. There is good show on PBS - called Cultivating Life. While it is short, it does have everything, from building trellis, to planting, to cooking. It's good enough - although not close enough to the shows of the past. I've pretty much given up on watching shows on TV. There's hope however, and it exist online. Look at such places such as Youtube and someone is most certainly going to upload a specific gardening technique. Ianna

There's a dahlia listed at High Desert dahlias in Wa state called Wittam- could be what you're looking for - it's white- perhaps the person who helped you didn't know the correct spelling. Have a look-- they're not taking orders now but you can probably order from them sometime in the late winter/early spring. Here is a link that might be useful: High Desert Dahlias