Blowes Conservatory (Cook Park)

Cook Park grew out of an old travelling stock reserve, a swampy patch where teams camped in the 1870s. Proclaimed in 1873, it was named after Captain James Cook in 1882. A local storekeeper, C. W. Curran, is believed to have brought the first begonias to Orange; the mayor of the day, Alfred William (Alf) Blowes, took an interest in them and drove the building of a conservatory on the park's western side. It was finished in 1934 and given to the city for the cultivation of tuberous begonias. Orange carried out many unemployment relief projects during the 1930s depression, the park's aviary among them.

By the 2017-2018 council budget, the windows and woodwork needed repair, the wiring was outdated and problems were emerging in the brick walls; $120,000 was set aside, with the work to be planned with heritage consultants. A $100,000 grant from the New South Wales Heritage Near Me programme funded the restoration, and the conservatory was officially reopened on 9 March 2018, with several of the donor's descendants present. The park was added to the State Heritage Register on 24 August 2018.

Available sources describe the conservatory through its materials rather than its dimensions. It stands on brick foundations and low brick walls carrying a glazed timber structure. At the centre of the roof rises a lantern whose sides bear the words 'Blowes Conservatory' in leadlight, so that the donor's name is built into the fabric of the house.

The 2017-2018 restoration dealt with the timber frame, which had suffered from rot, the leadlight windows, the brick foundations, and the lighting and watering systems. Panes fitted as replacements over the years were swapped for glass matching the originals. No architect and no floor area are given in the sources consulted.

The conservatory was built for a single group of plants and has stayed true to it: every year it holds a collection of tuberous begonias that the heritage listing calls outstanding and the local press ranks among the better collections in the world. Many of the original plants were a gift from the City of Ballarat, from its botanical gardens, and the collection has since been extended with purchased varieties. Park staff grow the tubers and stage the annual display. Among its most distinctive features are rare trailing varieties hung beneath the roof, their flowers cascading over the paths.

The conservatory stands in the western part of Cook Park, near Summer Street in central Orange. The begonias flower from February to April, the time to plan a visit. Half an hour covers the glasshouse, but the park rewards a longer walk: a signed heritage trail links the lattice fernery of 1938, restored in 1988, the octagonal bandstand opened in 1908, the duck pond created around 1890 and the old caretaker's cottage. Tulips and daffodils fill the beds in spring, and roses in summer.