Taylor Patterson, Florist and Owner, Fox Fodder Farm

I was first introduced to Taylor Patterson of Fox Fodder Farm  by my acupuncturist who attended a Sunday Suppers event in NYC and commented on how beautiful the floral arrangements were.  

Taylor has a specific point of view with her floral designs that can't be replicated. Combine that with her warm and inviting (and cool and confident!) spirit and it's obvious why Fox Fodder Farm is so successful. 

iPP: What's your background and what led you to floral design?

TP: I grew up in Rockland, Delaware which is a really pretty area near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It's Andrew Wyeth country—rolling hills—and I grew up on a small little farm and spent a lot of time with nature.

I lived in Paris for a little while and then I moved here [NYC] and I never really considered floral design as a career path at all. It was always something I thought, "oh that’s cute, I like that"… it could be a fun thing to do when I retire after whatever job I thought I was going to have.  And then when I moved here I was sort of lost and waitressing… well, actually it started when I moved into an apartment that had a roof terrace and I put all of my money into making it nice.  And I had a friend who was visiting me one day and I was kind of boo-hooing and she was like, “Dude, why don’t you just do this?” And so it was kind of like a light bulb went off and so from there I just got an internship with this small floral design company.  I was with them for a couple of months, then winter came and they didn’t really have anything for me to do.  So I got a job with a florist at a traditional floral shop, and I worked with this one woman—Veronica Cicero—who kind of taught me everything.

 I worked there for about 8 months, then started pursuing things on my own, a little bit here and there, and really it was just fucking luck. My boyfriend at the time worked in fashion and someone he knew recommended me to do flowers for Pamela Love for her wedding, so I did that, and then it was in Vogue and then everything took off from there. 

Pamela Love and Mathew Nelson's Montauk wedding; photo: vogue.com

iPP: What influences you when working on an arrangement ?

TP: The material itself drives the direction of what I’m making and where its going to go.  It’s also really the mood of the time.  You know, in the winter I always feel like I'm going to be minimalist and have a neutral palette, and then spring comes and I want a little bit more color; then in summer there’s so many textures to use, so it's really driven by the season and what's available and what I'm working with.

iPP: Do you have a favorite season you like working in?

TP: I think I love spring the most because some of the things I get the most excited about are in the spring. Spirea and fritillaria and daffodils – I'm a huge fan of daffodils. 

iPP: What is your favorite type of garden?

TP: I really like the gardens of Piet Oudolf; he did the Highline.  It's that meadowy vibe: a lot of movement, very whimsical, not too structured, and a lot of different colors and textures, and I just like the way everything sort of moves.  Quite nostalgic for me, I guess.

iPP: What is your spirit plant and why?

TP: Rex Begonia. I love them. They don’t require a lot of attention, they requite a little bit of care, they have cool foliage… they're just so interesting.   

Favorite places for:

Coffee? 
El Rey.

Cocktails? 
Achilles Heel.

Dinner? 
Estela or Vinegar Hill House.

Inspiration? 

 I'm from Delaware so I take the New Jersey Turnpike up and down, back and forth... and last year we did a wedding and all the stuff that grows off the Jersey Turnpike is super meadowy and I love that.  You'll have Cosmos growing in the median and I think its just the prettiest thing.

" I want to say it's on the Jersey Turnpike where I draw the most of my inspiration. "

Prospect Park or Central Park? 
Prospect.

Palm tree or Pine tree? 
Palm. 

A single orchid or a dozen roses? 
It depends on the variety of both! But I think I'm more of a single orchid type of person.

Cupcake or Croissant? 
Croissant.

NYBG or BBG?
NYBG.

Grand Cayman or Grand Canyon?
Grand Cayman.

MoMA or MET?
MoMA.

Spring or Fall? 
Both!

Stones or Beatles?
Stones. 

Fox Fodder Farm is located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (available by appointment).

 instagram: @foxfodderfarm