I disagree that the independent florist was a bit crap. I'm a former florist. The cost of cut flowers is skewed in the customer's mind due to the cheap offerings in supermarkets and online where bulk-bought cheaper flowers are put together on an unskilled production line. Independent florists don't buy direct from growers, they buy from distributors who buy at auction. At peak times, demand for certain flowers increases and higher demand means higher prices are paid at auction. This has a knock on effect.
If you are running a business which isn't a huge chain you can't negotiate the prices of the raw materials down and you have to pass at least some of that cost on to the end customers to stay in business.
At Christmas, anything red, white or green more than triples in cost to buy in. Unlike, say, Valentine's Day, demand from customers is not for pretty much the same product over an increased number of orders so as a florist you don't get economies of scale when it comes to turning the flowers into bouquets and arrangements.
It's an increasingly tough business to be in as lots of people don't value the talent and skill of florists. Whenever I send flowers, I contact direct a florist local to the recipient and I don't try to get a £50 hand tied bouquet for £20.