African Violet Books


	About the Author Melvin J. Robey is a third-generation plant scientists who has always been closely associated with the world of gardening. After a four-year stint in the Navy, he obtained a B.S. degree from Utah State University and a Masters degree from Purdue University; both degrees concentrating on the study of horticultural topics, soils, and botany. Besides his interest in writing and African violets, he has patents on the design of sports field irrigation and drainage systems. He is the author of over fifty magazine articles and has published six books ***** I took my first stab at writing a book in 1970. At that time I was employed by Athletic Department at Purdue University. I ventured into the world of publishing without a clue as to what I was attempting or where it would take me. My first book was a self-published, 48 page book titled Home Lawn Care. I used the question and answer format for this book. The book sold for $1.25 plus 25 cents for shipping. I must have done something right because I sold 25,000 copies in two years. This wetted my appetite for taking a shot at the big time-the publishing companies. I expanded the book into a hard cover book titled Lawns. With this book I learned an important lesson when an author is dealing with publishing companies-persistence. This book was turned down twice by the same publisher who eventually accepted the book-“third time around was charmed.” Shortly thereafter my publisher asked if I would write an African violet book for them. As a writer, when a publisher asks such a question the automatic answer is “yes.” Let me explain why the automatic answer is yes. For the first five years of my writing career I could have wall papered a couple of rooms with rejection slips I had received from publishers. This is very tough on a writer’s ego! Fortunately for me I had already published a book with them and that is why they asked the question. It resulted in my first book on the worlds favorite flowering houseplant, African Violets: Queens of the Indoor Gardening Kingdom. This was the first book in several years that was dedicated strictly to the African violet. My second book, African Violets: Gifts from Nature, turned out to be a major challenge. My editors had switch publishers. This time they asked if I could write an African violet “coffee table top book” for them. As previously stated, when a publisher asks, a serious writer seldom turns them down. A “side bar” story is, after I finished African Violets: Gifts from Nature, I turn them down when they wanted a “coffee table top book” on roses. At the time I had over 300 roses in my garden so I did have a strong background with roses. Hind site being what it is, I wish I would have written that book. Back to African Violets: Gifts from Nature. As it turned out it took me three years to write, do the photography, collect tables, and complete the illustrations. When the publisher decided not to reprint the book my immediate thoughts were to re-publish it. Click on African Violets: The Series for additional information. For the past nine years I have been living and writing in Jomtien/Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand is a wonderful place if you enjoy pristine beaches and beautiful flowers growing in their natural habitat: orchids being the most spectacular. Prior to recently visiting the Royal Flora Expo in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand I had never seen an African violet in Thailand. This floral exhibition is in celebration of the King’s 80th birthday. The display featured about 2.5 million tropical plants and flowers. I finally discovered a very small section of Saintpaulia ionantha in one of the exhibition halls. Check out my Thailand link and look at the photographs of the African violets I found-prize winners “they were not! *African Violets: Back to the Basics* My new book is now available. African Violets: Back to the Basics is my third book on America‘s most popular indoor flowering plant. This book is a compilation of 250 of the most common questions I have been asked over the past thirty years. My book, African Violets: Gifts from Nature, has been categorized by a few reviewers as a technical/scientific book and even as a textbook on the subject of growing beautiful African violets. About one of my books a person stated, “Robey is a plant scientist and sees things a little bit differently from the average violet grower.” In a prior book, Home Lawn Care, I found the question and answer style of writing to be an effective tool in presenting information. In using this technique again, it allows the African violet hobbyists to quickly access the basic growing information they are seeking. Comments About the Author's African Violet Books African Violets: Back to the Basics "Mel Robey 's new book will captivate the interest of all African violet lovers. He uses his unique knowledge of the plant world to explain to the reader the skills required to grow beautiful African violets." "Mel's writings are like him, down to earth , interesting, helping us have fun while we grow beautiful African violets with ease." "All levels of growers will be unable to put Mel's new book down and you will find yourself reading and re-reading and sharing it with friends." "A book you will definitely want to own and add to your library." Comments About the Author’s First Two African Violet Books African Violets: Queens of the Indoor Gardening Kingdom “This one is a keeper. “ “….starts off with a bit of a teaser in the title for Chapter 1: African Violets: A Gift from Nature – the same name as a later Robey book, now much sought after and very expensive!” “….this book definitely belongs on your bookshelf.” “Robey is a plant scientist and sees things a little bit differently from the average violet grower.” “In the chapter on feeding violets, I discovered a new world of important nutrients African violets need that I did not know about.” “This book is not one that will gather dust on your shelf, once you posses it you will discover it to be a daily reference…up-to-date information on all phases of growing our favorite plant.” “This welcome addition to any houseplant collection is the first in nearly 10 years concerned exclusively with African violets…provides full information on all aspects of growing and propagating the African violets…a good basic guide..” African Violets: Gifts from Nature “This volume incorporates and expands upon his previous book, African Violets: Queens of the Indoor Gardening Kingdom.” “This is a very thorough book and it will answer probably any question you'll ever have about African violets.” “….a masterpiece and a must have for your library.” “Robey’s book could be the textbook for ‘African Violets 101’ at your local college. The author credits AVSA and AGGS, as well as some very well-known names in the gesneriad world, as sources for much of his information and many of his beautiful color photographs.” “An easy read for novices on the subject of basic gesneriad culture, this book is a challenging read for even veteran growers on the subjects of fertilizer chemistry, growing under artificial light, pesticide use, and hybridizing. “ Comments About the Author’s Lawn Care Book “Your books is indeed a fine one and answers many of the questions of the average homeowner in a simple, concise way regarding some of their lawn care problems.” “I have been looking for a book which could be used to inform the average homeowner of the proper methodology for developing and caring for a fine lawn. Your book is the first publication of this type that starts to meet this requirement.” “You have put together a book any homeowner concerned with their lawn would be wise to obtain.” “The author has certainly done an excellent job in putting together an information source that the average homeowner can use in solving their day-to-day lawn problems.” “I find most publications using the question/answer format are rather boring, but somehow you mange to avoid this problem.” List of Other Publications (To be added later when the author is back in his California home)


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