Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any horticultural society, gardening club, garden club federation, flower or produce show, the Royal Horticultural Society, the National Gardens Scheme, National Garden Clubs, any county or agricultural show, seed company, garden centre, judges' association, council or charity. Nothing here is legal, safeguarding or privacy advice. Check your own society's guidance on gifts, photos, show entries and members' details.
It's ten to seven on a Saturday morning in late August, and the village hall car park is already full of people carrying cardboard boxes very carefully. Inside, a woman called Brenda, who has been the horticultural society's show secretary for fourteen years, is standing at a trestle table by the door with a cash tin, a pile of entry cards and a laminated copy of the show schedule she wrote last winter. She knows every class by number. She knows that class 14 is "three dahlias, cactus or semi-cactus, one vase", that class 27 is "five runner beans, matched", and that someone will, as every year, try to enter four runner beans and look surprised when she gently points this out.
Down the hall, two stewards called Alan and Rashida are putting out white paper on the long tables, marking out the staging for each class with masking tape and a felt pen. Someone else is filling vases with water from the kitchen tap. A man in his eighties is laying out a row of onions, each one dressed and trimmed, its neck tied with raffia, on a bed of sand in a saucer he has used for thirty years. A ten-year-old is placing a potato carved into a hedgehog on the children's table, with great seriousness.
At ten o'clock, the hall is cleared of exhibitors. The judges arrive, two volunteers from the next county with notebooks and a quiet way of looking at a carrot. The stewards follow them along the tables, turning over entry cards only when each class has been judged, placing the red, blue and yellow prize cards. At two o'clock, the doors open to the public. There are teas, a raffle, a plant stall, and the cups are presented at four. By six, everything is gone: the onions back in their boxes, the tables folded, the paper in the recycling, the hall swept.
On Monday, Brenda will start the results for the newsletter. In January, she'll write next year's schedule.
If you've ever been a member of a horticultural society, entered a village show or lived with someone who grows prize leeks, you'll know how much quiet, unpaid work goes into it. This guide is about saying thank you to those volunteers, in words first and, if it fits, with a small extra: a photo from the show bench, the society's trading hut or the garden visit, turned into a private digital jigsaw with your note at the end.
Who we mean
Most horticultural societies, gardening clubs and garden clubs are run entirely by volunteers. The titles vary, but most have some version of these roles:
- the chair, secretary and treasurer, who book the hall, keep the accounts, pay the insurance and handle any affiliation;
- the show secretary, who writes the schedule, takes the entries, organises the stewards and judges, and produces the results;
- the show stewards, who stage the hall, guide the judges, keep entry cards face down and look after the exhibits;
- the volunteer judges, often from a judges' register or a neighbouring society, who travel for their expenses and a cup of tea;
- the programme or speakers' secretary, who fills the winter evenings with talks on roses, compost, bees and pruning;
- the trading hut or members' shop volunteers, who sell seed potatoes, compost and canes to members at cost on Sunday mornings;
- the garden visits and outings organiser, who books the coach and checks the gardens are open;
- the plant sale team, who pot up hundreds of seedlings in spring;
- the cups and trophies keeper, who polishes the silverware and gets the names engraved;
- the children's classes organiser, who invents "a miniature garden in a seed tray" and "an animal made from vegetables";
- the newsletter editor, the raffle team and the refreshments rota;
- the members who open their own gardens for the society, for a charity open day or for a local trail.
Many volunteers do several of these, and some have done every one over the decades. The person pinning out the paper on the tables this year may have been chair ten years ago and may be judging next year.
The words matter most
The best thank-you for any volunteer is a specific, honest message. Something like:
- "Thank you for helping me with my first entry form. I'd never have entered without you, and I got a third for my sweet peas."
- "I know how long it takes to write a whole schedule. Thank you for doing it every winter."
- "Thank you for the talk on dahlias. I lifted mine for the first time this year and they survived."
- "Thank you for opening the trading hut every Sunday in the rain."
Say what they did, what it meant, and, if you can, a small detail that shows you noticed: the show secretary who always finds room for a late entry, the steward who carries spare vases in her car, the trading hut volunteer who knows which seed potatoes you bought last year. That's the gift. Everything else is optional.
If you're on the committee, a thank-you from the chair at the prize-giving, in the newsletter or at the AGM matters too. Name people where they're happy to be named. Many volunteers say the thing they remember most is the moment someone said, in front of the whole hall, "None of this happens without you."
Who might send one
A photo jigsaw with a note can suit:
- a new member thanking the person who encouraged them to enter their first show;
- a society chair thanking a long-serving show secretary, steward or treasurer;
- a member thanking the speakers' secretary for a whole winter of talks;
- a family thanking the children's classes organiser after a child's first prize card;
- a society thanking a member who opened their garden for a visit or a charity day;
- a partner or family member thanking the person who has spent every August Saturday in a village hall for twenty years;
- a member who has moved away and misses show day.
It suits people who would rather have something personal than another pot plant, and societies that would rather spend their subs on speakers and prize money than on presents.
Gifts, societies and good manners
Some practical points:
- Society money is members' money. Subscriptions, entry fees and plant sale takings usually pay for the hall, the speakers, the prize money and the trophies. If you're thanking someone personally, pay for it yourself, and if the society is thanking someone, agree it at committee first.
- Judges have their own etiquette. Most show judges are volunteers who travel for their expenses, and the judge's decision is final. Thank them after the results are out, never before or during judging, and never in a way that could look like it's connected to a prize. A handwritten thank-you and a prompt expenses payment are always welcome.
- Not everyone wants the spotlight. Some volunteers enjoy being thanked at the prize-giving. Others would rather stay in the kitchen. Ask, or follow their lead.
- Keep it modest. A note and a small gesture is more comfortable than something expensive. Puzzlify is a small digital gift, not a lavish present.
- Every exhibit belongs to someone. If you want to use a photo of someone's prize onions or flower arrangement, ask the exhibitor first. And if your show has rules about photography in the hall during judging, follow them.
- Gardens are private places. If a member opened their garden for the society, ask before using a photo of it, and keep their house, street and anything that shows where they live out of shot.
When to send it
Good moments include:
- the evening after show day, when the hall has been swept and everyone has gone home;
- the prize-giving or annual dinner, when the cups come out;
- the AGM, especially when someone is stepping down from a role;
- the end of the trading hut season, or its first Sunday in spring;
- after a garden visit or open day that went well;
- the end of the winter talks programme;
- a society anniversary, if it's been running for fifty or a hundred years;
- any time you've been meaning to say it and haven't.
If the society has had a hard year, such as a wet summer that ruined the show, losing its hall or the death of a long-standing member, a thank-you to the people who kept it going can mean even more.
Why a jigsaw can fit
Show day is a day of looking closely. Judges look at the whole vase and then at every bloom, at the straightness of the beans and the colour of the tomatoes, at the tiny details that separate first from second. Exhibitors spend months on exactly those details.
A photo jigsaw asks for the same kind of attention. The person solving it puts the picture together piece by piece, notices the petals and the soil and the colours, and at the end finds your note. It's quiet, it's personal, and it's a small way of saying "I noticed what you do", which gardeners appreciate more than most.
If you're thanking the chair and committee
The chair and committee carry the weight of the whole thing: the hall booking, the insurance, the accounts, the worry about falling membership and the annual debate about whether to add a class for photography. A good photo is the hall set up and empty before the show opens, every table staged, or the trophy table before the prize-giving. Your note can be short: "Thank you for keeping it all going. Another year, another show."
If you're thanking the show secretary
The show secretary is the society's quiet engine. They write the schedule, take every entry, chase the judges, brief the stewards, count the prize money and write up the results. A good photo is the printed schedule open on a table, or the entry desk before the doors open, with the cash tin out of shot. Your note might say: "Every class, every card, every year. Thank you for making show day happen."
If you're thanking the stewards
Stewards stage the hall, keep entries in the right class, guide the judges, turn cards over only after judging and make sure nobody touches anything they shouldn't. A good photo is the long tables before the public arrive, cards face down, or the vases lined up on the staging. Your note can be: "Thank you for making it fair, and for the masking tape."
If you're thanking the judges
Judges give up a whole day and travel to someone else's show, and they find something kind to say about every class. Once the results are out, a thank-you note from the society is always appreciated. A good photo is the show bench after judging, with prize cards in place and exhibitors' names hidden. Your note might say: "Thank you for your time, your care and your comments. We learned a lot."
If you're thanking the speakers' secretary
The speakers' secretary fills the winter: a talk every month on roses, clematis, wildlife ponds, propagation and the history of the potato. They book the speakers, sort out projectors and pay the fees. A good photo is the meeting hall set up for a talk, chairs out and screen down, or the programme card on the noticeboard. Your note can be: "Thank you for every winter evening. The talk on pruning changed my life."
If you're thanking the trading hut team
Many societies have a hut or a members' shop, open on Sunday mornings, selling compost, fertiliser, canes and seed potatoes at cost. Someone unlocks it, serves, keeps the stock book and shifts the bags. A good photo is the hut itself, door open and shelves stocked, or the seed potatoes in their trays in spring. Your note might say: "Thank you for every Sunday morning, and every bag you carried to my car."
If you're thanking the children's classes organiser
Children's classes are often the most fun part of the show: vegetable animals, a garden on a plate, the tallest sunflower, the longest runner bean. Someone invents them, sorts out the prizes and makes sure every child goes home with something. A good photo is the children's table before the public arrives, with no names or faces in shot. Your note can be: "Thank you for the hedgehog potato class. She's already planning next year's."
If you're thanking a member who opened their garden
Opening a garden is a huge act of generosity: months of preparation, a weekend of strangers walking on your lawn, and the worry about the weather. A good photo is a part of the garden they love, with their permission, with no house or street in view. Your note might say: "Thank you for letting us into your garden. The borders were beautiful."
If you live with a horticultural society member
Some of the most important thank-yous are the ones nobody hears: from the partner who has lost the shed, the greenhouse and most of August to the leeks, or the family who have learned to plan holidays around show day. If you're the member, a photo jigsaw for them is a nice way round. Choose a photo of something you grew that they love, perhaps from the garden you share, and your note might say: "Thank you for every weekend you let me spend in the greenhouse, and for eating all the courgettes."
When a long-serving volunteer steps down
Many societies have someone who has done it for decades: who remembers when the show had two hundred entries in the onion classes, who has every schedule since the 1980s in a folder, who knows exactly which cupboard the vases live in. When that person steps down, a thank-you matters.
A good photo might be an old show schedule, a photo of the hall from an early show (with permission from anyone in it), the trophy cabinet or the cup they won most often. A higher piece count, like 130 or 252, can suit a slow, reflective solve. Your note could collect messages from several members, or simply say what the society owes them.
In memory of a member
If a society is remembering someone who has died, a puzzle can be a gentle way to share a memory with their family or the society, but only if the family would welcome it. Ask first, keep it quiet and personal, and choose a photo the family recognises: something they grew, their allotment or garden, or the cup they won. Many societies name a trophy after a member; a photo of that trophy can be a fitting choice.
For gardening societies elsewhere
The same ideas work for:
- horticultural societies, gardening clubs and village shows in the UK and Ireland, many affiliated to national bodies;
- garden clubs in the United States, often part of state federations, and the volunteers behind county fair flower and vegetable exhibits;
- horticultural societies and garden clubs in Canada, including the volunteers behind community gardening and beautification projects;
- agricultural and horticultural shows in Australia and New Zealand, which often depend on a small army of volunteer stewards;
- specialist societies for roses, dahlias, chrysanthemums, orchids, sweet peas, fuchsias and vegetables;
- school, community and allotment garden groups that hold their own small shows.
Every one of them depends on volunteers, and every one of them has someone who stays behind to fold the last table.
Photo ideas and consent
Good photos for a horticultural society thank-you include:
- the hall staged and empty before the doors open, every table ready;
- a row of vases or a show bench after judging, prize cards in place and names hidden;
- a single exhibit, like a perfect dahlia or a tray of onions, with the exhibitor's permission;
- the printed show schedule, open on a table;
- the trading hut, door open and shelves stocked;
- the trophy table before the prize-giving;
- a corner of a member's garden, used with their permission, with no house or street in view;
- something you grew yourself, if the thank-you is from you.
Keep out of the frame:
- members' faces, unless every person has agreed;
- children, unless their family has agreed and your society's policy allows it;
- entry cards with exhibitors' names showing, entry lists and results sheets with names;
- other people's exhibits, unless they've said yes;
- the cash tin, the raffle money and the prize money envelopes;
- members' houses, gardens with house numbers, street signs and car registration plates;
- the combination lock on the trading hut or the shed;
- anything that might embarrass someone, such as the year the marrow class was disqualified.
If the photo has people in it, ask them first. A photo with no people at all, just the bench, the hall or the flowers, is often the easiest and best choice.
Getting the JPG right
Puzzlify works from a JPG. Most phone photos are already JPGs, or can be saved as one. A few practical tips:
- crop to the part that matters, such as one vase or one corner of the bench;
- photos taken in a village hall under strip lights can look a bit grey; a photo near a window, or of the garden in daylight, usually looks better;
- landscape images usually make the most comfortable puzzles on a phone turned sideways;
- bright, colourful photos with lots of detail solve beautifully; a flower show bench is close to ideal for a jigsaw;
- a photo with a big area of plain white table paper can be surprisingly hard, so crop it or pick a lower piece count;
- if you're scanning an old schedule or photo, scan it at a good resolution and straighten it;
- remove location data from photos taken in a member's garden before you upload, and remove anything private, even if it's small: a name on an entry card, a house number on a gate.
Privacy, an optional PIN, and saying it's from you
The puzzle is private: it's shared as a link, not posted on a public board. You can add an optional PIN so that only someone who knows it can open the puzzle, which is useful if you're sending it to a society email list or a group chat. Even so, treat the photo as if it might be forwarded, and keep anything private out of it.
Some members, especially older ones, may be wary of unexpected links, and rightly so. Say who it's from and what it is in the message itself: "This is a little jigsaw of the hall on show day, with a note at the end. It's from me, and it's safe to open." If you're sending it to someone who doesn't use email much, ask a family member to help, or print the link as a QR code inside a card.
How many pieces?
| Pieces | Feels like | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | a single sweet pea | a few minutes |
| 48 | one vase on the bench | around 5–10 minutes |
| 80 | a whole class staged on the table | around 10–20 minutes |
| 130 | the hall on show day | around 20–40 minutes |
| 252 | thirty years of shows | an hour or more |
If you're not sure, 48 or 80 pieces suits most people on a phone. Colourful flowers and vegetables are lovely to solve, but plain table paper and pale skies get tricky at high piece counts, so start lower if the image has large areas of one colour.
The leaderboard: only for a group
If you're sending one puzzle to a whole society or committee, the optional leaderboard lets everyone see who finished first. Some societies, being full of people who enjoy competing over onions, will love a bit of friendly rivalry; others would rather just solve it quietly. If it's a personal thank-you to one volunteer, you probably don't need it.
A few note ideas
- "To Brenda: fourteen years of schedules, and you've never once lost an entry. Thank you."
- "To Alan and Rashida: thank you for every metre of masking tape and every card turned over at the right time."
- "From the children's table: thank you for the vegetable animals class. The hedgehog says thank you too."
- "To the trading hut team: every Sunday, every bag of compost, every seed potato. Thank you."
- "To Margaret: thank you for opening your garden. We still talk about the roses."
- "To my husband: thank you for every August you've given up to the leeks, and for pretending to like beetroot."
(Change the names, and keep anything personal or identifying out of a puzzle that may be shared.)
How to make one (about a minute of setup)
- Open Puzzlify's puzzle maker in a browser: https://puzzlify.app/en/puzzle-maker/
- Upload your JPG: the hall, the bench, the hut, a member's exhibit or garden used with permission.
- Pick a piece count from 24 to 252.
- Write your note. It appears when the last piece goes in.
- Add a PIN if you want one, and preview it for free.
- When you're happy, publish the link and send it by email or message, print it as a QR code inside a card, or ask the society secretary to pass it on.
Honest pricing and notes
Making and previewing a puzzle is free in your browser. You only pay when you publish the link to send it: one credit is EUR 3.99, three credits are EUR 8.99, and Plus is EUR 14.99 a year for ten credits, which can make sense if you want to thank several volunteers separately. The person you send it to doesn't need an account or an app; they just open the link in a browser.
This is a digital jigsaw you play on a screen. It isn't a cardboard puzzle in the post, a printed product or a public puzzle board, and it isn't connected to any horticultural society, garden club federation, show, seed company or garden centre. It's also not puzzlify.io (a chess site), Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.
Ideas that are not a puzzle
Honestly, some of the best thank-yous for horticultural society volunteers cost nothing at all:
- a handwritten card, handed over at the prize-giving or tucked into the trading hut;
- volunteering yourself: as a steward, on the plant sale, in the kitchen or on the committee;
- staying behind on show day to fold the tables and sweep the hall;
- entering the show, even if you think your beans aren't good enough, because the show secretary wants entries;
- bringing a friend or neighbour to a talk, since most societies want new members more than anything;
- potting up some seedlings for the plant sale;
- for a long-serving volunteer, a small printed book of members' photos and messages, made with everyone's permission;
- a jar of homemade jam, chutney or a cake for the committee, which never fails.
If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose a photo of the hall, the bench, the hut or something grown with love, keep faces, names and anyone's address out of the frame, pick a piece count and add your note. You only pay if you decide to send it. You can open Puzzlify's photo puzzle maker and start a free preview.
Whatever you send, the most important part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the person who wrote the schedule, took the entries, pinned out the paper, steered the judges, opened the hut, potted up the seedlings and folded the last table at six o'clock, so that next August, the hall would fill with flowers again.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, safeguarding or privacy advice. Check your own society's guidance on gifts, photos, show entries and members' details.