I've done both. I worked from home for two years although I did have a job too but I was lucky enough to get time off to do the weddings. It really i was hard trying to drum up business though. For example if a customer rings up and says I need a bouquet today/tomorrow, you just cant do it because of minimum orders. I think you need a fantastic reputation to earn a proper living although saying that, get a shop and you'll be lucky to pay yourself in the first year.
I don't think that everyone is crap that comes straight out of college, some people just have a flair for it. To be honest though, of the 15 girls on my course I'd have employed maybe two of them as I really didn't think that their work was all that.
Like Floristflo said, theres no way I'd work for someone else for 5.50 an hour, hence why I set up my own. I think at the end of the day there will be rubbish florists with shops and rubbish florists working from home. Let the public decide who they want to go with as the proof is in the pudding so to speak. Pay peanuts, get monkeys.
Just an example, an aquaintance learnt online (hmm) then sent a blanket text to a load of guys on valentines 'Grand Prix Bouquets 25.00' I wondered how the hell she was doing it. A few months later she admitted she hadn't known prices went up that much, like the public thought it was a myth! It ended up costing her a fortune. Phew, that was almost a novel!