Woestijnkas (Desert Greenhouse), Trompenburg Gardens & Arboretum

Trompenburg occupies a former buitenplaats in Kralingen, south of the Oude Dijk dyke, where the official website places the Trompenburg farm behind the Zomerlust country house. Zomerlust belonged to the Smith family, later Van Hoey Smith, who laid out an English-style landscape garden and began an arboretum; Kralingen was annexed by Rotterdam in 1895. In 1950 management passed to J.R.P. van Hoey Smith: the tree collection then grew "explosively", and his passions, the website says, were oaks, beeches, rhododendrons and succulents. The Stichting Arboretum Trompenburg foundation was created in 1958, and the garden opened to the public on a small scale. Extensions followed in 1960 and in 2000. In 1996 a director, Gert Fortgens, succeeded four generations of Van Hoey Smiths; opening was widened and a modern entrance pavilion was built. In 2008, for the site's 150th anniversary, it took its present name, Trompenburg Tuinen & Arboretum.

The desert greenhouse is dated neither by the garden nor by the Dutch texts consulted. The building mapped as a greenhouse at this spot in OpenStreetMap, from the BAG land registry, is identified with the Woestijnkas by its position, not by a text confirming it. It has served as a setting for events: an exhibition in November 2022 recalls a night spent watching a night-flowering cactus bloom, guided tours and workshops took place during a cactus weekend in June 2023 and again in June 2024, and a cutting-and-grafting workshop on 12 July 2026 was sold out.

The OpenStreetMap outline, taken from the BAG land registry, shows a greenhouse building of about 530 m²; this is a calculation from the outline, not a figure from the garden.

In two free photos of 2021 (Wikimedia Commons), the greenhouse seen from outside is a row of glazed gabled bays with vertical glass walls, set against a dark timber-clad building with yellow window frames. Inside, a roof of small panes is carried on a metal frame and lit by hanging fluorescent tubes. The floor is sand scattered with stones, in which the cacti grow; a few round tables and wicker chairs are set out. A photo caption on the garden's page reads "Succulenten kas grondbedding" (succulent greenhouse, ground bed).

The garden describes its collection as that of cacti and other succulents. Cacti come first from North and South America, the other succulents mainly from Africa, some, such as agaves, also from America. In the greenhouse, according to the page for a guided tour, the plants carry their names and are largely arranged by geographical origin; a separate section gathers special growth forms, for example monstrose forms. On the 2021 photos, globular and columnar cacti grow in the sand.

A text from the garden also mentions Hylocereus undatus, whose flowers last only a single night, watched in the "succulent greenhouse". The collection is looked after by the garden's cactus enthusiasts, who lead the cutting and grafting workshops. It sits within a garden dominated by trees, which is best known for its collections of trees, shrubs and perennials.

The Woestijnkas is visited with the garden, whose admission opens its 8 hectares; the website invites every visitor to look in. The garden itself cites it as a fall-back location for photo shoots when the weather is bad, which also makes it a useful stop on rainy days. Guided tours of the greenhouse and cutting-and-grafting workshops take place at events, such as the June cactus weekend, and the plant markets offer cacti among other plants.

The garden lies in Kralingen, on the edge of Rotterdam's centre. It also includes English-style gardens, a food forest (De Overtuin), an aviary, a garden restaurant and a shop.