Look up: It's Vanilla!

Vanilla imperialis

Visitors who pause and look up as they enter the the Orchid Display House are often greeted by this orchid, Vanilla imperialis, cascading over the cedar pergola and bearing flower clusters (and often a fruit) near the terminus of its 30' stems. What a regal flower!

A Vanilla vine is probably the easiest of all orchids to grow indoors. One grew happily in my attic apartment in Cincinnati years ago. As a semi-terrestrial, its cultural needs more closely resemble those of conventional houseplants than its epiphytic relatives Cattleya and Phalaenopsis, whose peculiarities cause their owners so much grief. A peat-based potting mix and some afternoon sun suit Vanilla just fine. It's a handsome vine with thick succulent leaves and stems--the embodiment of the exotic tropical liana.

Flower production is a bit trickier. Growers of commercial Vanilla species, who grow their plants outdoors in large nursery blocks, plant their vines in the ground and provide them with tall T-shaped posts to support their vertical growth.  They coax their plants into flower by allowing the very long stems to cascade downward. It is the downward growing portions that produce flowers. V. imperialis is native to tropical west Africa.

Vanilla: Exquisite and Delicious

Vanilla pompona

Of the approximately 100 species of Vanilla, only a three are grown for the commercial production of vanilla. Vanilla pompona is one of these, and our plant has burst into glorious buttery bloom this week in the Orchid Display House. Draped over the cedar pergola, the massive vine has produced 13 short spikes, all flowering simultaneously. Pretty though they are, the flower has only a mild scent that bears no resemblance to the fragrance of the fermented seed capsule from which the flavoring is derived. The fleshy seed capsule is commonly called a bean--a misnomer, since Vanilla is an orchid, not a legume.
The Fuqua Orchid Center has twenty Vanilla vines planted at the base of the vertical supports of the cedar pergola, including one of the odd leafless species from Madagascar.