In this picture, I also used the lowest aperture settings. By the way, I will admit that I don't know much about aperture and other settings like that, but, like I have done, I would encourage you to stop using the "auto" settings and try new things. At first, your pictures may not be that great but the more you try different settings, the less you will want to use "auto" and the better your pictures will turn out.
Also, for this picture of a dandelion, I used slightly low exposure in order to make the lovely petals stand out more and the background less, something that I also achieved with the aperture, giving the picture a very shallow depth of field, which is what makes those nice little blurry dots in the background, which are called a "bokeh" and really add personality to your images.
