The vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) is in a class by itself. It’s the only orchid that is cultivated globally for food. In that role, it is the second most expensive spice in the world. (Saffron is the most expensive).

There are lots of orchids that have interesting histories, but Vanilla has more than most.

Vanilla is native to Eastern Mexico and parts of central America. Aztec legend has it that it arose from the blood of forbidden lovers. Indigenous peoples appreciated the unique flavor long before Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés discovered it in 1519 and took some back to Spain.

Vanilla became very popular in Europe, prompting attempts to cultivate the orchid there. Although the plants grew (in greenhouses), they were not pollinated and therefore produced no seed pods (vanilla “beans”). Growers later discovered that the orchid’s natural pollinator was Melipona beecheii, a stingless bee native to Mexico. When the bee was brought to Europe to help, it quickly died out. So, for 300 years, all vanilla was imported to Europe from Mexico.

In about 1820, vanilla plants were introduced to the French Reunion island. For 20 years they produced no seed pods. Then, in 1841, a 12-year-old slave boy named Edmond Albius figured out a simple method for hand pollination and a global industry was born. His method is still in use today.

Vanilla is now grown in Madagascar (which supplies the majority), Indonesia, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico.

There are several reasons that Vanilla is so expensive. The vines require years to mature before producing flowers. The vines can grow to over 100 feet in situ but are usually trained to about 12-18 feet when grown commercially. To make hand harvest practical, the vines are grown to the top of special 6-foot trellises then trained downward and then upward. Every blossom must be pollinated by hand. The blossoms are open for only one day. The beans then remain on the vine for most of a year before undergoing months of a complex curing process.

The extremely labor-intensive nature of vanilla production is why it’s so expensive.

Most vanilla-flavored foods do not contain real vanilla. Instead, they use vanillin which is usually derived from petrochemicals. It does not contain the almost 250 aromatic compounds that make natural vanilla so complex.

I grew a vanilla plant in my first greenhouse. I grew it up to the roof and then around the frame. After about 4 years, it had grown to about 24 feet and I actually got 1 flower. It was not much to look at, small, sort of pale yellow/green. There was a slight fragrance but nothing like a Vanilla fragrance. More like Jasmine? I spotted it in the morning before work and decided to photograph it after work. The flower had closed up permanently by the time I got home.

Commercial vanilla plants have moderate-sized, solid green ovate leaves. The plant I’m growing now is variegated so I’m expecting slower growth but it’s more interesting than the commercial vanilla leaf. I’m not counting on flowers, I’m more interested in the unique growing habit and novelty.