Herbaceous ornamental plants are important elements of parks and gardens with their showy flowers blooming in vibrant colors, leaves of different shapes and sizes, and striking fruits. In our country, which has a very rich flora, many exotic plant species are grown as ornamental plants in addition to natural species. This book was written to serve as a resource introducing herbaceous ornamental plants commonly used in our country's parks and gardens for students taking the herbaceous ornamental plants course in the Landscape and Ornamental Plants Cultivation program of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Forestry Vocational School, as well as this sector employees and growers interested in the subject

The photographs used in the book were taken by me in many different places such as parks, gardens, cemeteries, and nurseries, and I would like to thank the growers. Among these, Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden has been an important resource with its rich herbaceous ornamental plants collection, and I would like to thank those who contributed. I would also like to thank Assoc. Prof. Aysel Ulus, who worked hard to grow and display herbaceous ornamental plants in the garden of the I.U.-Cerrahpaşa Bahçeköy Campus, where I photographed some of the plants. My most sincere thanks go to my mother, with whom I have grown flowers since my childhood and had enjoyable flower conversations, who instilled in me a love of plants and flowers. I photographed many flowers in her garden and used them in this book. I would also like to thank my dear husband and daughter, who patiently waited for me during my photo shoots during my travels. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Orhan Sevgi and Prof. Dr. Ünal Akkemik, who read the text of the book from beginning to end, for their suggestions, evaluations, and contributions.

I hope that the book will be useful to students and those interested in growing herbaceous ornamental plants,

Prof. Dr. Hatice YILMAZ