Orchid Garden

Orchids are highly prized for their rarity. While a recent trend in orchids has increased supply and orchids in bloom are readily available for purchase, they are often the varieties requiring the least care. Most orchid types are difficult to care for and take a long time to bloom, driving up prices. Known for their finicky nature and high price point, orchids became a mainstay of luxury interior design.

There are nearly endless varieties of orchids, but one species that holds a special place in my heart is Vanilla planifolia. While vanilla is often maligned for being plain, it in fact comes from an orchid. Each flower opens for only a few hours on one day. Because of low natural pollination rates, the plants must be hand pollinated. If it isn't pollinated, the flower is shed, never to form the true prize: the vanilla bean.

Before the mid-19th century, Mexico was the main producer of vanilla. In 1822, the plant was successfully introduced to the French-controlled island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. It wasn't until 1841 that the crop became commercially successful when a 12 year old enslaved boy named Edmond Albius succeeded where botanists had failed and discovered a financially viable method of hand pollinating the plant. A French botanist falsely took credit for Albius' innovation, but credit was restored to him by the end of the 20th century. Albius was freed from slavery when France outlawed the practice in all its colonies, but he never received any financial gain for his monumental discovery.

Vanilla flavor can be obtained cheaply through soaking the beans in alcohol to make vanilla extract, but the current price for two vanilla beans at my grocery store is $19.99 for two dried beans. Remember this next time someone diminishes the value of vanilla.