Flowers are Fading and So Am I!

I am still practicing; guess I will be for a long, long time. Actually, practicing is fun; it's trying to learn from what I am doing that is hard. My tulip bouquet is fading. I was practicing macro depth of field in these, as I moved myself around, back, and closer.
Specifically here, I was trying on purpose to focus on the tulip base from the back while having the obstacle of the stem being gradually closer to the lens. I don't know how to do that. But you are my family and I can send practice shots!