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Vanilla chamissonis Outdoors in Southern California


epiphyte

Epiphytes on Palms  

11 members have voted

  1. 1. I like my palms...

    • ...completely naked
      1
    • with maybe one or two epiphytes
      4
    • covered in epiphytes
      6


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If it will grow on the side of a house here in Southern California...it would probably grow on a palm here as well!

5873397743_3f2c9f6229_z.jpg

Vanilla chamissonis Outdoors in Southern California by epiphyte78, on Flickr

For a while now I've been informally asking around to see if anybody is growing Vanilla outdoors here in Southern California. A couple people said they knew of somebody growing Vanilla outdoors...but never saw any concrete evidence...until yesterday.

Yesterday I finally visited a friend in a local orchid society who has been growing Vanilla chamissonis outdoors for several years now. He only lives 5 minutes from me and as you can see his Vanilla is growing on the side of his house. This is the third time that it's climbed this high. When he took it down to share a cutting we observed that it was actually in bud for the first time since he's had it.

Vanilla chamissonis is from Brazil and it's not the species used for flavoring. There are around 110 species of Vanilla that are widely distributed in the tropics. Vanillas are exceptional orchids because they are hemiepiphytes...they start on the ground and climb up trees just like many Philodendrons do.

How many other species of Vanilla can be grown outdoors year around here in Southern California?

Most likely this Vanilla chamissonis came from a cutting of a plant that Paul Grip collected many years ago from Brazil. The SBOE has this orchid available for sale.

For some great photos of orchids check out my gallery on flickr of specimen orchids flowering on trees.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If it will grow on the side of a house here in Southern California...it would probably grow on a palm here as well!

5873397743_3f2c9f6229_z.jpg

Vanilla chamissonis Outdoors in Southern California by epiphyte78, on Flickr

For a while now I've been informally asking around to see if anybody is growing Vanilla outdoors here in Southern California. A couple people said they knew of somebody growing Vanilla outdoors...but never saw any concrete evidence...until yesterday.

Yesterday I finally visited a friend in a local orchid society who has been growing Vanilla chamissonis outdoors for several years now. He only lives 5 minutes from me and as you can see his Vanilla is growing on the side of his house. This is the third time that it's climbed this high. When he took it down to share a cutting we observed that it was actually in bud for the first time since he's had it.

Vanilla chamissonis is from Brazil and it's not the species used for flavoring. There are around 110 species of Vanilla that are widely distributed in the tropics. Vanillas are exceptional orchids because they are hemiepiphytes...they start on the ground and climb up trees just like many Philodendrons do.

How many other species of Vanilla can be grown outdoors year around here in Southern California?

Most likely this Vanilla chamissonis came from a cutting of a plant that Paul Grip collected many years ago from Brazil. The SBOE has this orchid available for sale.

For some great photos of orchids check out my gallery on flickr of specimen orchids flowering on trees.

Wow! Loved the photo gallery, very tropical looking for California.

:) Jonathan

Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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We had a really rampant Vanilla species of some sort at Cal Poly Pomona that was in a greenhouse but crept out into the lathhouse considerably, if I remember correctly. I'm sure it froze back to under glass most winters though. I wish I'd paid more attention to it while I was there... :(

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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I've seen Vanilla planifolia (Vanilla Orchid) growing in The Botanical Building in San Diego. It appears to grow very well in there even though it's not heated. It's not the nicest looking orchid, however, its large leaves make it look exotic.

Edited by Palms1984
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