Symbols

Chrysanthemums symbolize the Bate's broken marriage in this story. Mrs. Bates does not like the smell of Chrysanthemums because it reminds her of Mr. Bates. She explains here dislike of the flowers to her children by saying "It was chrysanthemums when I married him, and chrysanthemums when you were born, and the first time they ever brought him home drunk, he'd got brown chrysanthemums in his buttonhole." When Mr. Bates dies at the end of the story, a vase chrysanthemums was knocked over and breaks. Mrs. Bates is quick to clean up the mess of the chrysanthemums, symbolizing her marriage.(1)

Chrysanthemums are commonly known as mums. They were first cultivated in China and brought to Europe in the 17th century. They are symoblic of death in many cases. (2)

These are what chrysanthemums look like [4]
Epiphany
Mrs. Bates has an epiphany towards the end of the story. She is more upset about the financial aspects of her husband's death than the actual loss of him. She realizes that she wasted her time getting angry with her husband and judging him, even though he was just a hardworker trying to support his family. She realizes that she is the worse spouse and fears meeting him again in death.(3)

1)http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/112339/dh_lawrences_odour_of_chrysanthemums.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemums
(3)http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/E316K/6/odor.htm
[4]http://www.flowerwower.com/chrysanthemums.htm