I like your idea to go soft, but it's just a tad too blurry for my taste. I Like the lighting on the flower, both the highlights and how it shines through the flower and makes it look sort of luminescent.
I would have loved this if the entire flower was in focus, but I'm assuming that is intentional. I like how the composition flows from one top corner of the frame to another, it really ties the entire piece together, also there is color in the shot, which it seems half of the challengers didn't notice in the description :) 7