How does D. H. Lawrence use imagery in Odour of Chrysanthemums?

The story contains patterns of imagery associated with darkness and fire, but its most obvious pattern relates to the flowers of its title. Elizabeth Bates is described, and the progress of her marriage is presented, in relation to chrysanthemums. She unconsciously picks some of the flowers at the beginning of the story, placing them in her apron where they attract her daughter Annie's attention. The flowers represent Elizabeth's struggle to maintain a sense of grace and beauty amid the dreariness of her world. Later, she explains to her children the flowers' association with her wedding, the arrival of her children, and ominously with her first sight of her husband's drunkenness. Now her illusions are tarnished, just as the flowers fighting the mine dust outside the home are "dishevelled." Soon, while awaiting the arrival of her husband's body, she notices that the odor of the flowers she has picked is "cold" and "deathly." The men arriving with the corpse knock over a vase holding the chrysanthemums, signifying her smashed illusions concerning her marriage