In the mid 1850´s, the commercial councillor Henrik Borgström leased out the area known today as the Eläintarha, the zoological gardens, to establish a spa and a zoological gardens there. Nothing came of the plan. Instead, in 1881 Borgström established a foundation whose task it was to foster the gardening culture and to maintain a horticultural school.
      Borgström was succeeded as the head of the foundation by Jacob Julius af Lindfors. He was a former major-general in the tsar's army and, after marrying the commercial councillor's daughter, became a business associate of the Borgströms' commercial house. Af Lindfors

funded the construction of the winter garden with his own money, 121,000 gold marks to be precise. The architect Gustaf Nyström drew the plans. The wrought-iron structures were imported from Germany and the special glass from Belgium. The rock was quarried from Sörnäinen, in Helsinki. The winter garden was completed in 1893. Af Lindfors donated the building to the horticultural society.
     The city of Helsinki bought the winter garden from the society after it ran into financial difficulties in 1907. It is still a popular recreational area and a meeting point, fronted by a magnificent rose garden.