You can take measures to stabilize the flowers - a little light stand or tripod or just a plain old bamboo stake and a spring clamp or piece of string can help hold a flower steady in slight breezes. For side on compositions like the first shot, it's usually easy enough to keep this below the frame and out of sight. Top down compositions may require more creativity.
I'd also suggest trying a tripod + IR remote with mirror lock up for static things in ambient light, but frankly you've done pretty well without here. There's no one way to do this, but it's worth trying alternate approaches
As to manual vs auto focus, keep working with both. Manual is the clear winner if you're after a specific reproduction ratio, but auto focus has its uses in close up work so don't discount it altogether. Again, figure out what works best for you and when, there's no one technique that rules macro/closeup photography.
Likewise with the aperture, I think you did just dandy for the first one, but it's really personal aesthetics. Experiment! I would have liked a little more in focus in the second photo, just because the majority of the flowers are in focus so the bottom couple flowers start to stand out as being in that "nearly in focus but didn't quite make it" range. Possibly a slight tilt of the camera may of covered this, to get all the blooms more in line with the plane of focus, or you may have needed to stop down.
Either way, you're off to a running start
Originally posted by Na Horuk Only thing I would say is to frame it so that the flower isn't touching the edge of the photo. Or so that the flower's edges get cropped out more. You should commit to one or the other, not something where its just touching.
I just wanted to highlight this great bit of advice. Making a commitment one way or the other is one of the composition guidelines that should almost always be heeded unless you have a really compelling reason. In-between things like just touching the frame edge or a slightly crooked horizon can look accidental and wishy-washy.