Behind the Hof is a fruit- and flowergarden, originally intended for the use by Cornelia and her family members. It served this purpose until the middle of the 19th century.

At the first restauration of the Hof Van Wouw in the fifties of the last century, it was decided to re-arrange the garden in 17th century fashion. The famous garden architect Polak Daniels provided the lay out. After the second restauration in the nineties of the last century the garden was expanded. The reconstruction was financially supported by the city of The Hague, the Prins Bernhard Culture Fund, the Fund 1818, the Countess of Bylandt Foundation and the Thurkow Fund.

This special garden was named: “Garden of Hesperides”. This name was taken from the Greek mythology, the Hesperides, the daughters of Atlas. In their (hidden) garden was the ‘Tree of Life’; the golden apples from this tree, provided eternal youth. In our culture a connection has been made between these apples and the golden coloured oranges. Besides hedges of espaliered-pears, a fig tree, an old mulberry tree, a big walnut tree and a variety of fruit trees, the main attraction is the ‘Aurantium’: a collection of over twenty different kinds of citrus trees. This 'Aurantium' is based on the lost collections of the ‘Stadholder’ Quarter, the Old Hof (palace Noordeinde) and the lost palace Honselaarsdijk. 

This “Orange Tree Museum’ can be visited from the end of May to the beginning of October.

A few times a year the Hof Van Wouw organizes open “Garden-days”, the proceeds of which are beneficial to the upkeep of the garden.

Twitter