Snowflower

[martindn]

Listening to Yuk No Hana, or Snowflower, or Snowflake, got me wondering what a snowflower is. The word Hayley uses in the lyric is Snowflower, and the reference to "the first snowflowers of the year" implies it is an early spring flower.
This bring to mind the Snowdrop, (Galanthus Nivalis). So I did a bit of googling to try to find out what else it might be.
The "SnowFlake" is another possibility, and there are two varieties the Spring Snowflake (Leucojum Vernum) and the Summer Snowflake (Lucojum Aestivum). The spring snowflake is native to Southern Europe and Western Russia though, so not likely to be mentioned in a Japanese song.
Spathiphyllum floribundum, common name Snowflower, is a South American plant, so I don't think it is that.
Which brings me to what I actually think it is, Deutzia Gracilis. There are many species of Deutzia, but I found one rather obscure place that referred to it as "Japanese Snowflower". It is a shrub, up to six feet high, that bears white flowers, a member of the Hydrangea family.

Mods: not sure if this should be posted in Miscellaneous or Off Topic rather than here.. You decide.

Martin

[grant]

Well I never Martin!!

Never thought I would be learning about obscure flowering shrubs before I logged off this evening!

Young Hayley certainly gives us plenty to think about - well done with the research - very interesting. I personally think your post is in the correct place, after all, it does relate to a song on the CD. I hope the mods agree or I might get a red card!

Best wishes
Grant

[roger]

Hi Martin,

I had decided to keep your description of the snowflower right here on the albums board but I am tempted to move it just to prove Grant wrong!

I would just like to say how much I appreciate Hayley singing a song about a shrub that is growing in my garden! And it's in flower now. I took this shot just a few minutes ago...

Deutzia

Roger

[grant]

Jun 12, 2008 20:02:42 GMT @roger said:

I had decided to keep your description of the snowflower right here on the albums board but I am tempted to move it just to prove Grant wrong!

Thanks Roger!! Love you too!

Gorgeous picture by the way. You must let Hayley know that you have one in your garden, I'm sure she will be interested. I wonder if she's actually seen a "Snowflower" herself.

Best wishes
Grant

[martindn]

Hi Roger,

Wow, that's gorgeous! Just like the song!

Martin

[jordi]

I thought "snowflower" was a poetic way of saying snow flake.

[maya]

Ora jordi.

You are right. 雪の華 or snowflower is meaning beautifulness of white snow in Japanese.

maya

[jordi]

Thanks Maya. Out of the song, I thought that white snow and winter may have some romantic or beauty-related meaning in the japanese mind, as the song is a sincere love story and uses winter and white snow the way we would use spring, as a season to look forward to, and one that is full of beauty.

[maya]

Hi jordi.

Have you ever been here in Japan? You know our culture and the way we appreciate the season very well.

Speaking of Yuki no Hana or Snowflower, original singer Mika Nakashima is very popular here especially among young women. When I opened the door of my car at my company's parking lot, it was not only my colleague who paid attention. Girls around me were also wondering who was singing Snowflower in English. This may be the reason why my colleague tried same thing with me quickly because he is single guy. Anyway HSJS is getting popular among those who park around me.

[jordi]

Hi maya.

Never been to Japan, I just realised from Snowflower lyrics that winter and snow are pictured as being something beautiful and romantic, something key to the song; feelings that in our culture tend to be assigned to spring.

It's just that I like quite much the song, both Hayley's perfomance and the story being told as well.