[JFSanders]

No, you were not too heavy with the blur brush. Now your picture has a central subject and it pops out of the background. When you are shooting a shot like this it is like a portrait shot.

Vignetting is the darkening and abstraction/blurring of the image surrounding the subject.

I like your edited image. It shows your subject but conveys a larger context. It is a happy flower.

Next time you shoot a subject try to determine what it is about the scene that makes you want to make the picture then start eliminating all things that distract from that. Then determine from what veiwpoint helps you tell others what you are seeing.

It is a whole lot easier to write that than to accomplish it. And if you aren't making pictures you will never get a good one so shoot a thousand a week if you can.