I loved the subtlety of this; it's like an endlessly intricate lace pattern, because you have the pattern of the plant stand and then the pattern of the snow crystals. I was your 9.
I think the narrow range of values is what keeps me from likeing this a lot. I think I like the forground pattern but I can't quite make it out. I have no suggestions about how to go about making it different.
For me, if there were a bit more contrast overall, maybe some darker shadow areas and greater highlights on the snow itself, I would have scored this higher.