Here is the Raphaelle Peale painting "Melons and Morning Glories" and the Sharon Core photograph "Melons and Morning Glories".
I'm tempted to compare these on botanical terms alone- is the type of melon that Peale painted available? Look at how much thicker the rind is. Perhaps the melon in Core's photo is a new hybrid variety- with a specially cultivated thin rind. Also the modern morning glories have much bigger blooms- another new cultivated variety?
Morning Glories have some specific properties that may have been significant to Peale. For instance, the blooms live only one day- blooming in the morning and dying in the afternoon. The seeds contain hallucinogens, and some varieties are poisonous.
Seeing the images side by side does raise the question of meaning- what is the point in remaking an image like this?
After all, the idea of a photographic version of a painting is not new.
Nonetheless, I still think that the commitment that shows in Sharon Core's photographs raises them above the level of gimmickry.

Sharon Core photograph courtesy Yancey Richardson gallery.