PHOTO BY JEFF JACKSON Jones Florist is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Leading the festivities are Laura Harrington, left, shop owner, and her mother, Nina Lee Rasmussen, former owner. Jones Florist has been doing business in Lampasas for 60 years. And to celebrate the occasion, it will host an open house Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The business is owned and operated by a third generation of the Jones family, as Laura Harrington and her mother, Nina Lee Rasmussen, and sister Karen Cambon continue to arrange flowers for a variety of occasions. They strive to please customers with fresh flower arrangements for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, special occasions and funerals, as they have for six decades.

Mrs. Harrington's grandmother, Verna Jones, first opened the business on Sept. 1, 1948.

After her husband passed away, she went to the Benz School of Floral Design and then opened her flower shop at 206 S. Park St. The business grew, and Mrs. Jones used the income to support her family. She even wrote a newspaper column for the local paper called "Flower Talk."

In 1989, Nina Lee Rasmussen took over the business from her mother.

When the flower shop was located on Park Street, a sign at the corner of Key Avenue directed people to their store. That sign was lost when a new business took over the location. Jones Florist relocated to 509 E. Third St. on the north side of the downtown square in a limestone building that recently has been given a new coat of paint.

Mrs. Rasmussen has worked with flowers for a long time -- first with her mother and now with her daughter.

"We deal with so much sentiment: happy occasions, birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, and sad occasions of illness and funerals," she said. "We use flowers to help people celebrate life. God created flowers that no one else can invent."

In 2000, her daughter Laura took over the floral business. Mrs. Harrington started helping around the shop when she was 10. She said she paid for her college education by managing a flower shop in Lubbock and, following that, worked with another shop in Leavenworth, Kansas. She returned to Lampasas and was a teacher for several years but now gives her full energies to Jones Florist.

Mrs. Harrington and her mother have worked to keep up with the latest trends in floral design and arranging. Most flowers for their shop come from wholesalers in Austin and San Antonio who receive them from places all over the world.

In the florist business, one never knows what kind of arrangement will be needed next, they said, and every order must be handled immediately. Many phone orders are never seen by the person who places the order. For example, soldiers stationed in Iraq can place an order for loved ones here in the United States. The Jones family said they keep this in mind and do their very best to create a pleasing arrangement every time.

Mrs. Harrington grew up in the flower business and said she understands the needs her customers may have. Daughter Carrie has coined a phrase to explain the family philosophy: "Flowers speak a language that we all can understand. The color, shapes and fragrances are silent yet profound agents of expression, conveying emotions and delivering messages that words may fail to express."

Jones Florist is a member of FTD, Teleflora and 800-FLOWERS.

For its open house on Saturday, the store will offer refreshments, giveaways and sales.

A new selection of fall and Christmas merchandise also will be available. The public is invited.