We grow, cut, condition and arrange, all in this little city
We grow in two small gardens, bought from the city of Troy in 2014 and 2018, my own little urban backyard, and a three-acre farm up on 8th Street. We revel in the changes that each season brings, producing over a hundred varieties of annuals and perennials, from early spring until after frost in the hoophouse.
Each year we take on a limited number of full service weddings and a la carte events, make weekly bouquets for our flower club, and create arrangements to-order for birthdays, anniversaries, and other life events. All of these come right from our farm and gardens, with some extras from farmer friends.
All our flowers are pesticide-free, herbicide-free, and chemical fertilizer-free, and we'll never use flower foam.
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Colie
I started my gardening life as an appreciator—of my grandparents’ robust suburban plots, my mom’s long struggle to grow anything in our sandy soil, and of fairy tales, storybook gardens, and eventually the writings of Thoreau, Whitman, Mary Oliver, Lorine Niedecker, Gary Snyder, and all the great nature poets I’ve been lucky to come across.
As a young adult, I farmed vegetables in the North Country of New York, in Santa Cruz, CA, and in Western Mass. It was there in 2012 that my interest turned toward flower production, and in 2013 I began the Flower Scout project in a community garden in Troy, NY.
With a supportive community as tailwind, Flower Scout has grown from a small flower CSA to a wedding & full-service floral design company, employing multiple gardeners and designers and innumerable freelance helpers to execute dozens of weddings every season. Although the organization has gotten a bit more complicated (and fun), the impetus remains the same: There is so much to learn from growing and arranging, so much to appreciate and be moved by. I’m fortunate to play a role in celebrations, large & small, and to contribute to our clients’ everyday joy, beauty, and feelings of abundance, all while nurturing my own desire to stay connected to land, people, and place.
How we work
Three things shape everything that leaves the studio.
Farmed by the florist
Growing our own means we can plant the strange and the short-lived—the flowers, herbs, and plants no wholesaler will carry because they won't survive a truck.
Designer's choice, always
We are a small shop working with seasonal blooms, so palette and selection shift week to week. Tell us your favorite colors and any special requests, and we'll see what we can do.
Garden-inspired, un-fussy, wild
Considered but never stiff. Outside the growing season the selection depends entirely on what our wholesalers have—the sensibility stays the same.
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Four gardens, inside the city.
We manage our farm and gardens organically and regeneratively: using compost, cover crops, no synthetic inputs, soil that is better at the end of each season than it was at the start.
We place seed orders during the winter, plan as much as we can, and see where the season takes us.
“Amidst the insanity of wedding planning Colie was a ray of sunshine and it was such a relief to have someone in our corner who not only provided the most beautiful part of our big day, but was also a genuinely kind and good person.”
“Flower Scout were absolutely incredible and truly made our autumn wedding unforgettable. From start to finish, they were not only easy to work with but also incredibly communicative and attentive to our vision. They went above and beyond by creating custom pieces based on our moodboard, incorporating beautiful seasonal flowers. The result was beyond stunning and exceeded our wildest dreams. I cannot express enough how grateful we are for their talent and dedication in making our special day absolutely perfect.”
108 Jefferson Street
Open by appointment only. Our is a working studio, and most days there are buckets everywhere. Give us a call if you need something quick!
Farmhands, every season.
We take on farmhands each year. These are early mornings, real dirt, hot sun, heavy lifting. Applications open ahead of each spring.
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