Alright -- I played around with macro-shots this morning. Brought out the DiMage G600 (next version newer than the G530 I usually use). It taught me a lot. Turns out -- I was zooming too much and thus macro-izing too much. I needed to back off on that -- the results are much better.
Beard-shot of Alien Mist:
Copatonic:
Trillion:
Holly Lane:
Sultry Mood:
A couple of those are good enough, I think, to put in the Database. I need to expand them after I finish posting this, to see how they stack up to everyone else's. I'm happy with the time I spent working on this -- and I need to spend more time learning the parameters of my camera.
Here's a picture of Morning Hymn, unfurling: