Bobby grew up in eastern North Carolina (Gates County), received an undergraduate degree in biology from East Carolina College, and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Botany and Plant Physiology from N.C. State University. He is the author or co-editor of four books, including one on the writings of N.C. gardener Elizabeth Lawrence. Bobby is currently the executive secretary of the North American Rock Garden Society. (He will have copies of some of his books for sale.)

In 1942, Elizabeth Lawrence (1904 – 1985) wrote the first book about gardening in the U.S. Southeast. “A Southern Garden” is still in print and is regarded as a classic in gardening literature. She is considered the “gardener’s biographer” and a gifted writer, often dubbed the Jane Austen of the gardening literary world. Since Lawrence’s death, there have been seven books published of her unfinished writings, miscellaneous uncollected writings, and a biography. In 2004, “Horticulture” magazine considered Elizabeth Lawrence one of the most significant gardeners of the past 300 years and one of only three from the American South.