Meet Taylor Patterson of Fox Fodder Farm

Brooklyn, New York. floral designer Taylor Patterson discusses her artistic mother, her decorating style, and her pipe dream of having a farm in the South of France
taylor patterson, fox fodder farm
Taylor Patterson of Fox Fodder Farm, Brooklyn, New York

Flower: Describe your floral aesthetic in three words. Taylor Patterson: Considerate, creative, self-aware.

Name three people who inspire you. 1) My friend Jean Adamson, who owns Vinegar Hill House, a restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. She showed me what it is to be a good leader and boss, to have a strong moral compass, to move forward in my career with confidence, and to work hard. 2) Landscape designer Piet Oudolf. I admire his aesthetic and the tension he creates between the informal and the formal. 3) My mom. She is a really talented artist (even though she’d never let you know that) and has been working on a series of bronze cast sculptures of horses that are insanely good. But talent aside, my mom has no ego, she is patient, and she is genuine, and you see those qualities reveal themselves in the quality of her work.

taylor patterson, fox fodder farm, fall mum arrangement
MATERIALS: Football mum, thistle, double peony, tulip, begonia foliage

Did you ever have one of those aha moments that changed your life in a meaningful way? Yes, when I started working with flowers early on. I had been struggling in my mid-20s to figure out what I wanted to do. I had been waitressing, dabbling in painting, and freelancing for a landscape designer, and then one day I got a job with a flower shop, and it was like, “Oh, OK. This is what I want to do.” And here we are.

What is your home style like? It’s rather eclectic with a mix of things I’ve picked up on my travels and carried with me through life. I don’t like when my space feels too intentionally designed. It needs to feel like an organic extension of me.

What do you do to relax and recharge? I run, I garden, I cook. I relax by being active.

What is your go-to attire? Jeans, T-shirt, sneakers. Groundbreaking stuff!

Taylor Patterson, Fox Fodder Farm
MATERIALS: Phalaenopsis orchid, Japanese maple, dyed grass, dried sedge, grass seedpods

What was your most memorable meal? Fish amok from a stall at the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, circa 2007. It is my favorite thing I’ve ever eaten, and no other fish amok or Southeast Asian curry has met it yet.

On a typical day, we can expect to find you… I’m usually working. I’m always working. I start the day at the flower market and then move on to either doing one of our various accounts or prepping for an event. There really is no typical day.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement so far? It is building this business to the place where it is and having an amazing team of people who are not only supportive but as invested in its success as I am.

When and where are you happiest? At home fussing in my garden, probably.

If you weren’t a floral designer, you might be… I don’t know. Part of me wants to be the CEO of some big-time company, and another part of me wants to have a farm in the South of France with goats, far away from all of it.

ikebana style flower arrangement
MATERIALS: Dried dyed grass, seedpod, Japanese maple, begonia foliage, carnation, marigold, Phalaenopsis orchid, New Zealand flax, various wild grasses. Get step-by-step instructions for this Ikebana-style arrangement.

See 20 more of our most popular orchid flower arrangements.


Produced by Alice Welsh Doyle | Photography by Monica Buck

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