Personally one of the best ideas in the challenge. I always like juxtaposition type images. I think just a little bit of recomposing would have made it sing by having the seedling thingy totally in the gray sky. Otherwise a wonderful stylized shot. I am surprised it didn't do better in the challenge.
You got a 5 from me - but that's all relative to my inability to recognize a good thing when I see it. It happens all the time when I vote, no matter how hard to try and choose. Anyway, I did come back partly because I saw it pop up on recently commented on and remembered it from the challenge. The key point is, I think, "I remembered it." It is subtle and modest, especially in the context of a competition, but very effective and evocative. Nice work.
You get my vote for OOB with this shot. You're going to scare Raish by moving in on his territory. I think you composed this shot very well and the darkness to the shot is pretty cool.
I think the weed in front is a "Queen Anne's Lace", but I don't know. I know it's not a tree. There is a tree in the background... blurred... due to narrow DOF. Well, you knew this was a risk.