Seeds and bulbs were February's garden heroes, with sales in Garden Centre Association (GCA) outlets up 14% on the previous February.
Other core gardening categories performed well too, according to the latest GCA figures, with sales of outdoor plants up 9% and sundries up 10%.

Said GCA chief executive Iain Wylie: "It looks as if garden centre customers spent the majority of February preparing for the new season with purchases of new plants, sundries and seeds and bulbs.

"At the moment we have no idea what the year ahead is going to hold for us, but it looks as if gardeners have high hopes for good weather and are eager to get back into their gardens and get growing again.

"It's great to see sales of core gardening categories on the rise consistently since the beginning of the year and I only hope this continues."

Sales in pet and aquatics departments also did well, rising 11%, and houseplants were 8% up. Catering departments saw an increase of 6% on February 2014.

Katie Eckley, shop manager at The Old Railway Line Garden Centre in Wales, said: "February was a great month for us: overall we were up more than 30% on last year and all categories are performing well.

"The weather has been kind to us so far this year and our customers are definitely getting stuck into their gardens nice and early. Sales of plants were up 38%, all categories really performed well, especially hardy shrubs, which were up 70% on last year.

"Seeds and bulbs were up more than 30% and the biggest growth here was from packets of seeds. Garden sundries were also up more than 25%; compost was the most improved category in this department. It's been a great start, fingers crossed for the rest of the season."

At the Gardens Group, which has garden centres in Sherborne, Yeovil and Poundbury in Dorset, managing director Mike Burks said: "February was a month which was very encouraging as sales of compost, seeds, bulbs and seed potatoes were strong, as were hardy plants. This strength in core gardening bodes well for the spring, subject to the weather of course."