The best features include the Gardening Guys, who answer questions (how to force bulbs, how to start a vineyard) and whose past advice is easy to access, and the interactive Tool Chest, which estimates the amount of paint, wallpaper or grass seed needed for a project.

A. I don't think it's ever too late to start forcing bulbs, although it is too late to mail-order hardy ones like hyacinths, tulips and crocuses.

I was well looked after and moved around the departments; spending time caring for tender Veltheimias and Lachenalias in the glasshouses, and observing the mysteries of forcing, and delaying, bulbs to flower for Chelsea Flower Show.

DAVID HEADLEY has been forcing bulbs since he was 7 years old.

You can force bulbs from now until the first of December, but the sooner the better.

The ideal temperature for forcing bulbs is 40 degrees for the first four to six weeks of cold treatment, then 34 degrees.

You can also force bulbs in a big sturdy Colman-type cooler.

FORCING hardy bulbs to bloom is one of the most delightful customs for brightening dull winter days.

The bulb man had agreed to give a little lesson on forcing bulbs for indoors, so that come February or March you, too, can smell the flowers.

You can buy prepared bulbs, which have already been cold-stored by growers, but if not, you must imitate natural conditions to force hardy bulbs.