Maine flowers, part 1: closeup and then step back

I think I might finally be getting the hang of my macro settings. What do you think?

Although I tend to be conflicted about whether I like closeup shots of flowers or a more panoramic take on the whole plant. 

I offer a few examples here from the kids' Portland neighborhood. First, the cheerful daisies shown up close and personal above, then with a step back here:

The lovely tree/bush/shrub below was identified as a Japanese Willow by the master gardener whose yard it graces. Her yard was just one of the showpiece gardens that one finds in the neighborhood.

Japanese Willow up close...

...and the whole show

Stopping to admire another outstanding garden gained us an invitation to walk through it, much to our delight.

One of its showiest features was this bush that I named a "cloud bush," since its gauzy blooms/foliage/??? makes it look like it's enveloped in fog. I wish we'd thought to ask its owner for its name*...

cloud-bush up close...

in this case, the panoramic shot shows off the "cloudiness" better, I think

She also had this handsome snapdragon-ish fellow that we also didn't get identified*...

I took many, many more photos of flowers, trees, and berry bushes on our various strolls through the neighborhood, the cemetery, and elsewhere. I'll be sharing some of those with you in the weeks to come. When you have such a short growing season as the folks do in northern New England, it pays to make a big splash while you can!

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*Updates: the cloud bush is called, at least in Colorado, a "Pink Champagne Smoketree"...very descriptive, don't you think? And another friend commented that the last flowers might be hollyhocks. Maybe? Nope, I think it's foxglove. Thanks for all the flower id help!