Ludwig Winter (August 9, 1846 – July 12, 1912) was a German botanist, nurseryman and landscape designer, creator of gardens such as the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, noted for introducing tall palms and other foreign species to the Ligurian riviera.

Biography

Born in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, the son of a bookseller, the family moved to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

where he studied

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and became a gardener at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. After two years at Erfurt he went to the School of Horticulture in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, graduating in Botanics, and then became head gardener at the Botanical Garden of Poppelsdorf near Bonn. In 1867 he went to the Paris World Exposition and settled there, working first as a labourer and then as head gardener in the

Tuileries Garden The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in ...

. As the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

approached, the increasingly tense atmosphere in Paris forced Winter to move south via Marseilles and Cannes to

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

in the Côte d'Azur, where he worked as a plant illustrator for Charles Huber Freres & Co, a prominent nursery and principal source of novelty plants during that period. In 1869,

Thomas Hanbury Sir Thomas Hanbury (21 June 18329 March 1907) was an English businessman, gardener and philanthropist. He built the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, or Hanbury botanical gardens, at Mortola Inferiore, between Ventimiglia and Menton, on the coast of ...

began work on his botanical gardens at Mortola and engaged Winter as a botanist. He devoted himself to this garden for five years, importing a wide variety of plants from Australia, New Zealand and California and acclimatising them to Liguria. When the work at Mortola was complete in 1874, Winter moved to

Bordighera Bordighera (; , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, the French coast is visible from the town. Having the Capo Sant'Ampel ...

from where he designed and collaborated on many gardens, parks and nurseries on the Ligurian Riviera and the Costa Azzurra, as well as introducing and breeding roses, acacias and other flowers. In 1875, he created an experimental nursery at Vallone del Sasso, where he brought a wealth of rare tropical plants including palms, lianas and ficus. He designed beautiful gardens, such as those for the

Empress Eugenie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...

at Cap Martin, Prince Hohenlohe in San Remo, the Countess Foucher de Careil in Mentone, Villa Zirio in San Remo, Villa Bischoffsheim in Bordighera and Borgo Storico Seghetti Panichi in

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

. The most celebrated is the Giardino di Madonna della Ruota, on the road between

and Ospedaletti.

Gardens and parks

Five of Winter's gardens survive: * Giardini Botanici Hanbury at Mortola,

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...

* La Madonna della Ruota,

* Villa Wilmott,

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

* Winter Gardens, Vallone del Sasso,

* Borgo Storico Seghetti Panichi,

Plant breeding

Hybrids bred by Winter include * Acacia x deneufvillei, Acacia x hanburyana, Acacia x siebertiana Australian National Botanic Gardens
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External links

La Madonna della Ruota

Parco Storico Seghetti Panichi

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Ludwig German landscape architects 1846 births 1912 deaths Scientists from Heidelberg 19th-century German botanists