I agree about the shadows... but the opportunity arose to take the photo at 3pm, so whats a poor guy to do ??? I will return later to try a shot early one morning, just hope a Lily or 2 is blooming then...
the leaves are too distracting from the main subject here. lovely pinks, but the focus on the flower is taken away. a more selective cropping/photograph would be a good idea. keep it up. (oh, and for this shot, you may want to wait until dusk or sunrise so that the shadows aren't so noticable on the flowers)