My first reaction to the title alone was recoil, and a sniff of disgust. Repeating the word "blowing" in the title, first as a verb, then as an adjective, seems as lazy as rhyming a word with the same word. I guessed this would be defended as "innovative" and "breaking expectations", or some other po-mo hogwash to excuse a degradation of standards.

But when I sought out alternatives, either for the verb or for the adjective, I realized the uncomfortable sense in the author's choice. By using the same word, he drew not just a simile or metaphor, but a near equivalence between the blossoms and the snow.

Good distinctions Gasper; I got the equivalence, it's what I say when blossoms fly, when I shake the dandruff from my hair: look! it's snowing.

What I don't get is the forced interpretations by Rich "Just as cherry blossoms (good) and snow (bad)" Hunh? Snow falls in myriad splendiferous forms (good), cherry blossoms much more homogenous (bad) ...