Ashland Addison Florist & Flower Delivery

A Chicago flower shop kept by one family since 1932 is not a museum piece — it is the number you call when something has to arrive today. Ashland Addison is the fourth generation of the Sheffields in the trade: a working design center in Pilsen you can walk into, same-day delivery across the city and more than 150 suburbs, and a counter inside Prentice Women’s Hospital for the flowers that have to reach a room rather than a doorstep.

What to come here for

The everyday half is what most Chicagoans use it for: birthdays, anniversaries, apologies. Because the company keeps a shop inside Prentice Women’s Hospital, new-baby flowers are a genuine strong suit — an arrangement can be handed over on the maternity floor the same morning the news lands.

The other half is planned work. Weddings and events go by consultation rather than catalog, and corporate accounts — lobbies, reception desks, weekly deliveries to offices in the Loop and River North — run as standing relationships. May and June bring the graduation rush from the city’s universities. Sympathy arrangements are part of the range, delivered to Chicago funeral homes, churches and private homes.

Delivery and same-day orders

Orders placed by 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and by 10 a.m. on Sunday, go out the same day to Chicago and more than 150 suburbs. That is an unusually wide same-day footprint for one independent florist, and the reason this name surfaces when someone remembers a birthday over breakfast.

Deliveries run on the company’s own drivers rather than a courier app, which matters in a Chicago January: the arrangement spends the trip inside a vehicle, not in lake wind. For hospital and funeral-home addresses, call instead of ordering online — ward rules and service times are easier to settle by phone.

What stands out

• Four generations, one family. The Sheffields since 1932; Preservation Chicago lists the shop as a Chicago Legacy Business.
• A refuge for historic shops. La Salle Flowers, Kelly’s Flower Shop, Lofendo Flowers, Bunches and Swansons Blossom Shop joined the company instead of closing.
• Same-day to 150+ suburbs. Few independent Chicago florists commit to a radius that wide.
• A counter inside a hospital. The Prentice location makes patient and maternity deliveries routine.
• Walk-ins at the design center. The Pilsen workroom is open to customers, not a closed warehouse.
• Plants and gifts as well. Orchids, dish gardens and gift items are everyday stock.

Where the flowers come from

The company does not publish its supply chain, and inventing one would be guesswork. What is documented is the beginning: S. Roy Sheffield was paid in flowers for carting other people’s blooms to market and started tying his own, so the family came into the trade from the market end. Arrangements today are designed in the Pilsen studio rather than bought in ready-made.

The space, the service, and what else they sell

Pilsen is the company’s creative home base — a design center rather than a boutique, so the room is a working one and you will find the staff mid-arrangement. Walk-ins and pickup are both normal, and this is the place to talk a bouquet through instead of picking a photograph off a website. Alongside cut flowers there are potted plants, orchids, dish gardens and gift items, which covers the housewarming and new-office errands too.

When to come and how to get there

The design center sits in Pilsen, on the Lower West Side near Chinatown and the medical district — easy if you are already crossing the near South Side, less so from downtown, where the hospital counter is the closer option. The calendar matters more than the map: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, the graduation weekends of May and June and the December holidays are the four walls of the florist’s year, and in those windows same-day slots fill early.

Questions and answers

Can I walk in, or is this delivery only?

You can walk in. The Pilsen design center serves customers directly and handles pickup orders.

What is the cutoff for delivery today?

By 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, or by 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Do they deliver outside the city?

Yes — same-day covers Chicago and more than 150 suburbs.

Can flowers be delivered to a hospital room?

Yes, and the company runs a shop inside Prentice Women’s Hospital, so downtown patient deliveries are routine. Call ahead about ward restrictions.

Do they do weddings, and how far ahead should I book?

Weddings and events are handled by consultation. Book May through October dates as early as you can — that part of the calendar closes first.

What about a funeral home on short notice?

Sympathy arrangements go to funeral homes, churches and residences across the city; phone rather than ordering online when the service time is tight.

Is this the same company as La Salle Flowers?

Yes. Several historic Chicago shops, La Salle among them, have become part of the Ashland Addison family over the years.

Will an arrangement survive a Chicago winter delivery?

The company’s own drivers keep it out of the wind between shop and door. In deep cold, still send to an address where someone can take it inside.

Opening hours