Considering your distance from the subject, I’m not surprised the bg is OOF with a dedicated macro lens.
Funny thing about the word should, as in should I be seeking to bring the full flower into focus. Is that what you want? I don’t mean to be flip, but we have so much creative latitude these days that you can make anything possible. You say you have a larger project about desert colors and this would definitely fit with photos of its environment. I think you could take a lot of approaches with that, but what Dennis says is all on point. One other thing is to watch not only your backgrounds, but your edges. The flower behind is almost touching the bottom border which feels awkward.
Phew! Hope that helps and we get to see more of this project and anything else you’re working on.
Here’s a link to a discussion about stacking you may find useful -