Thanks a lot for your feedback. I think I get where you're coming from! However the theme this was created for was called "light painting", which is what the halo over the flower represents and the flower was lit by that movement of light... If the intention behind the shot was not so centered around the light and showing it, I would agree, that the flower would be more effective alone.
I usually go for very different lighting in a studio setting with flowers, so a shot in that vein could be a nice exception from my numerous attempts at softer lighting, like this:
'
We’re open' sign by simple.joy, on Flickr
Thanks a lot for that reminder!