Love Vanilla? Try the Vanilla Orchid (if you have the time!)

While volunteering one wintery Saturday, a Greater DSM Botanical Garden staff, introduced me to the Vanilla Orchid. I noticed that the more he talked about it, the more excited he became; I commented, you must really like orchids. He acknowledged, he indeed does but explained further that the Vanilla Orchid is especially unique because he has been the one propogating this orchid for a while. And, as he explained how hard they are to propogate, I would feel the same. It is a delicate science. So detailed, he provided instructions as to how exact it can be, and sometimes unsuccessful, to grow a vanilla orchid, down to the time of day (between 12-3pm) when you introduce the reproductive parts of the plant to one another.

Typically viney, they can grow up to 35' tall

According to About Flowers, hand-pollinating is required with chopsticks (I believe, Josh uses tweezers). The pollen is removed from the stamen of one flower then placed on the stigma on another flower. If successful, a pod should form within a week; harvest is ready in 9-10 months! Yes, months!

Then, the next step is a detailed process of reaping the benefits of the actual vanilla, i.e., the curing process, which, as About Flowers continues to explain, "...is labor -intensive, and involves sweating and drying. Every DAY for SIX weeks, you must wrap the beans in a blanket at night to facilitate moisture condensation on the pods. During the day, place the beans on trays in the sun, or under a heat lamp indoors. Following this sweating process, you should dry to now brown and shriveled pods in a dark, dry place for an additional THREE MONTHS. You can store the cured beans in an air tight container indefinitely." [emphasis added].

Are you exhausted yet? I was just reading it. Apparently, though, the curing process is required to release the glycosides before it can be used in foods or perfumes, according to the Orchid Flower HQ. Clearly, growing and harvesting the Vanilla Orchid is not for the faint of heart.

I can, though, see why he was so excited about showing me the pod. He said the one he showed me was a poor specimen of how brilliant they can look and smell because it was several days old and beginning to rot; however, I was able to at least appreciate his hard work and the essence of the Vanilla Orchid. Even its spent stage, the pod smelled heavenly (and it hadn't been through the curing process either).

Picture credit: The Orchid Flower HQ. There weren't any blooms at GDSMBG when I was there.

The pod. Can't you smell it, even though it's starting to brown/rot at the top.

Thanks so much for reading!