How does Gail Tsukiyama use imagery in The Samurai's Garden?

Imagery:

"Every day I can see spring arriving in the smallest ways, mostly in the form of the double cherry blossoms sprouting from Matsu's weeping Higan, and the clear, light scene I smell every time I step into the garden." Stephen, Spring, p. 117

"When I turned around, the bright light of the morning sun had just filled the garden. It left the rushing stream of rocks aglow. I had stood watching the way the light played off the rocks, knowing that in a few moments the sun would shift its position and again the garden would appear different." Stephen, Spring, p. 125