Cattails

Meh.
Depending on the day, they may have some cool flowers to choose from or they may have very little selection.
My biggest issue with this shop is that anytime I purchase an arrangement I end up paying a lot of money for something really unimpressive. The arrangements themselves are just not very appealing and I always seem to end up paying $ 50 for like, three flowers and some greenery.
There are much better florists in the city.

Cattails did all the flowers for our wedding this March 2015 and the arrangements they made were beautiful and exactly what I wanted! I was not entirely sure of what I wanted for the bouquets and boutonnieres, but I showed Lisa pictures of what I liked and I thought were pretty and what I wanted our centerpieces to be and she took that idea and executed it perfectly. Lisa and Cattails made the floral experience very personal and easy!

I used Cattails for my wedding flowers. It was a very small wedding, so one bride’s bouquet, one maid of honor’s, two boutonierres, and a corsage for my mom. Lisa and the others there were so incredibly helpful. I showed them a picture of a bouquet I liked, we looked over flowers, chose a general ‘sense’ or style and colors. Later, I sent them another picture via email and a picture of my dress so that they could see the ‘background’ for the flowers. That was it. I was on a short time frame (and sick, to boot!) so I did not go back. On The Day, the flowers were there right on time AND ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! The price was completely reasonable, their aesthetic sense was impeccable, and they were the nicest people ever. Thank you so much, Cattails, for your professionalism on very short notice!

Lisa was amazing! We had our bouquets for our wedding done here and they were absolutely perfect! Working with Cattails was very stress free and they everything was just fantastic!

Cute little shop with some fun plants and nice arrangements. I came in here randomly and bought a small moon cactus. It’s a little more expensive than going to say, the Home Depot, but the woman working there definitely knew a lot more about the plants and how to take care of them.

Awesome spot to find something exotic and different yet still look very nice. Can’t ever go wrong, plus the service is great!

I do not live in the city (Southwest Suburbanite), but anytime I find myself in the neighborhood, which is probably about once every couple of months, I always make time to stop in to Cattails.
Being in the Southwest Suburbs, I am just outside of Cattails delivery area, so I can’t say that they are my go-​to florist. However, even as a suburb dweller, I believe that Cattails is second to none as a neighborhood florist. In other words, no matter what the occasion might be that calls for a cut-​flower purchase, I have not been to a single florist that offers a better walk-​in, look around, speak with the owner, and eventually make a purchase, experience. The shop has a very comfortable and warming feel to it that is augmented by the incredibly friendly and conversational owners and staff. Their selection of fresh cut flowers is always plentiful and particularly unique (they have included at least 3 – 4 stems in the different arrangements I have purchased from them that I had never seen before, but have since become favorites of my girlfriend), and if you’re looking for something that stands apart from the traditional bouquet, they always have a selection of more exotic potted flowered plants as well.
Being tucked away in a corner location on Division, the shop is not huge, but as a result, one can always find one of the owners in the arrangement prep area right there amidst all of their product. Therefore, especially as a walk-​in, it is not uncommon to have the same individual greet you, help you select some flowers, and then have them prepare an arrangement right in front of you. That kind of experience is not one that you will find in most other florist shops where there is usually an unseen back area where all the work is done.
All in all, no matter if you’re an experienced flower purchaser, or are completely clueless and in pursuit of something for your significant other, Cattails is the best place in Chicago to stop in, look around, and let the staff help you make your purchase for whatever the occasion might be. If you live in, or find yourself in the city the next time that you need to make a flower arrangement purchase, resist the urge to order a stock bouquet from one of the big online vendors, and stop into Cattails instead. The experience will always be a very positive one, you will probably get a chance to learn a little about purchasing a great arrangement, and of course, no matter what you walk away with, your purchase will always be one that will thrill you or the recipient of your gift.

I have been going to Cattails for over a decade. For my wedding, we chose to have a combination of flowers and airplants for the bouquets and boutinneires. Lisa is great to work with and got back to me very quickly about the options we had discussed. The end result was stunning and unique and had a lot of people raving. I couldn’t be happier with how the flowers turned out!

Recently purchased a dozen roses (half red/​half yellow) and after just over 2 days the yellow roses have completely died and the red ones are following. The roses appear forced bloomed. They were put in water immediately upon delivery and used with food as well. They were beautiful for almost two days and the customer service was great, but it isn’t at all worth the $ 75 w/​delivery.

Cattails is one of my favorite neighborhood businesses. Their window displays are always changing and I make it a point to walk by just to see it.
I’ve purchased three house plants from them so far based on staff recommendations and am really pleased with the results. You can always expect a professional attitude and sound advice from their staff and a nice selection of plants to brighten up your living spaces.
I highly recommend Cattails if you’re in the market for some plants.

I used Cattails for my wedding and was happy with everything.
I didn’t use flowers for anything beyond the girls and my bouquets, so it is a limited experience as far as many weddings go.
I have no idea about flowers but Lisa looked at pictures I brought and walked me through a couple of her books and got a sense for what I wanted without asking me to tell her exactly what I wanted (because I couldn’t). Sounds simple but I really appreciated it as it’s not the experience I had with others.
She was always nice and responsive to email. The prices were competitive, if not a little lower than the few other places I checked.
Everything was ready on time and looked great day of. No complaints here.

Got flowers there on Valentine’s Day and was disappointed with the service. First they shorted me a few tulips, then they gave me their least favorable batch when others were clearly available. I won’t be ordering from there again.

Cattails did the flowers for our 250+ guest, July wedding. We had an amazing experience working with Lisa. She is very knowledgeable about all varieties of flowers and arrangements and had lots of display materials there to help us bring our vision to life. She listened to us and understood what we were looking for but was not hesitant to make suggestions when we weren’t exactly sure what we wanted.
the flowers on the day of were amazing and lisa made sure to take extra care so the flowers did not wilt in the hot July weather.
lisa was a pleasure to work with and our coordinator also mentioned that Lisa was well prepared, professional, and efficient when working.
I would definitely recommend Lisa and Cattails.

I am probably going to be Cattails new best customer! Okay, actually what I mean is, I will convince my husband to become their new best customer :)
Yesterday after Easter brunch, I was at a loss as to where I would be able to find a bouquet of flowers to cheer up a friend who had just lost a grandparent and needed a serious pick me up. I should have planned ahead and gotten flowers the day before, but just moving into a new home my mind was completely unorganized.
I strolled down Division and as I kept passing all the small boutiques closed, started feeling like I was out of luck. But no! Cattails was open — On Easter Sunday, no less — from 10 to 3. Perfect!
I don’t order flowers often, and never in person. I generally do it for business purposes and use online shops. What a joy it was to actually help pick them out, and see the bouquet being made!
I worked with Brit, who was super friendly. She was warm, calm, clearly knew tons about flowers, and enjoyable to chat with during the process. I didn’t really give her a budget, just said «something really reasonable but cheery». I got 4 stems (2 pink and 2 orange) of something… maybe a tulip (kind of like the inside of a pomegranate) surrounded by greens and tiny white flowers. It was just perfect!
Wrapped up in orange tissue, brown paper, tied with a string, and a local photographers card accompanied the pick me up. Not too bad for less than $ 25!
My husband will definitely be back when he needs a get out of jail free card, and I will visit when I need more surprises for friends. Wonderful!

This negative review is based simply on «customer service» rather than Cattails product. My fiancé and I are planning our wedding and were considering Cattails as our flower supplier. They made us reschedule our appointment not once, but twice. Also, we called them on the day of our scheduled appointments and only then did they mention we had to reschedule. This is not a professional way to work with clients PLANNING a wedding. Moreover, certainly not a way to deal with a client referred to Cattails from a major wedding venue that has them on their «preferred supplier list». Needless to say, this turned us off immediately because we considered it to be a red flag for how their customer service would be if we signed a contract. shame shame.
While I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t use Cattails, I certainly cannot recommend or promote them either. I will also pass along my experience to the wedding venue. Whomever coordinates wedding activity needs to concentrate a little more on basic project and time management.
jeremy

As a server in the restaurant industry I have, shall we say, somewhat of an on-​again, off-​again relationship with Unilocal.When used as a platform to vent, bash and bring others down, Unilocal disgusts me. However, when utilized as a way to help others to discover goods and services that could have quite easily gone unnoticed or to reward those who deserve praise, Unilocal– more often that not– inspires me. Today, because it was through Unilocal that I was originally able to realize that Cattails was a shop capable of exceeding expectations, I have been motivated to inform others that such an amazing little flower shop indeed does exist.
A friend of mine who is planning her wedding and suddenly found herself the foremost expert on floral shops in Chicago first told me of Cattails’ actuality. Naturally, I turned to Unilocal to confirm her suggestion that Cattails was the florist for me. What I found was exactly what I had hoped to find, sparkling reviews regarding both customer service and the overall quality of the product that they put out. This review is far, far from contradictory.
As a man I have come to understand two things:
1. Flowers on Valentine’s Day are an integral component to ensuring peace and tranquility between you and your girlfriend/​spouse/​whatever.
2. I know absolutely nothing about flowers. I know that they look pretty/​smell great and that their power over the opposite sex is something that even modern science is incapable of understanding, but beyond that my knowledge of flora is ultimately lackluster. I know not the names of all flowers or when to find that certain varieties are in season.
Fortunately, understanding #2 was not a problem with Cattails. My order was as simple as giving them a call, setting a ballpark price that I felt comfortable with, suggesting that there be a presence of «yellowness» in the arrangement, but otherwise agreeing to give them full creativity over the assortment, and communicating my credit card information (a process which took no more than five minutes). When I heard the excited tone on the other end of the line, I knew I had made the right choice. Ultimately, the bouquet that had arrived at my doorstep was far more beautiful than I could have ever tried to construct myself.
Thank you Cattails. You have not only made this Valentine’s Day one to remember, you have made me look like a guy who «gets it» and one who will certainly be a returning customer.

Because Lisa is a champ.
And super nice on the phone.
And in person.
Cattails rocks.
So I’m good at getting EVERYTHING done last minute, short notice, no notice, yesterday, no seconds on the clock… whatever you call it.
I get it done. Who helps me? My fellow Git’er Dunnerz. Lisa with her calm, unfazed, wonderfully expedient and color coordinatingly wicked arrangement skillz de fleur, helps this man get it done. She just got assigned Head Gangstress de Rosay (pronounced Rose-​ay) for my Git’er Dunnerz gang.
Fast, beautiful, easy.
If you know your budget, or know what you DON’T want to spend, that’s pretty much all she needs to get going. And she puts it out there. Everyone’s afraid to talk about money, so she just goes, «Tell me what you’re looking to spend, and we’ll make it work.»
And then you go, «Sweet! So can I get them in like, negative 15 minutes? In vases? And purple?» I could hear the calm, relaxed smile over the phone, when she politely chuckled, «No problem!»
I picked up my arrangements about an hour later, totally transportable in these sweet cardboard, trapezoid pyramid thingys (also awesome). She helped me with them and had I wanted to ask, probably would’ve told me what exactly it was that I ordered.
They looked gorgeous, different… crazy! I knew my girlfriend would love them for her bday. And therefore me in return.
Score.

I lived across the street from Cattails for a couple of years, and I would buy 4 – 6 times a year. It was a life saver at times. The owner is super awesome. What they do is beyond amazing. I get my mom flowers on her birthday from here every year, and they make them so beautiful my mom will break into tears. Cattails is the best of the best. Hands down best for flowers and plants. Super friendly staff.

Amazing!
1. The shop is amazing.
2. The staff is incredible/​knowledgable.
3. Best flowers in town by far!
They are so helpful and can work with any budget! The flowers are much healthier than from any grocery store and much more unique!

Cattails is a great place for flowers. Their Staff is always willing to lend a hand or let you put together a bouquet on your own… then offer advice if asked on how to fix it. ;)
Recently I asked them to source a specific flower Bouquet for our anniversary and they came through even though it was a bit of an odd and off season request.