I recently blogged about all of the vanilla orchid flower buds on my vine. They've been opening in the past week, and I admit I missed a lot of the blooms because of the ongoing hospitalization of my mother. Also, I never got around to making the special paintbrush that I would have needed to hand pollinate them. So today I'll just be sharing the tropical beauty of this flower. Vanilla is the only species out of 20,000 orchid species that has a usable "fruit", the vanilla bean.
You can click on any image to enlarge it.
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| This flower is half open. I like how the Jasminium officinale leaves are intertwined with the vanilla vine. |
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| This is a spent/unpollinated vanilla flower. Isn't is similar in looks, if you look at just one segment, of an aged, glistening vanilla bean? |
How beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteHelp! I just noticed that I will soon have flowers on my vanilla bean!! I am only just now learning about how to pollinate the flowers so the plant produces a bean. I have read the following..."To pollinate, remove the lip of the flower. Then, take the pollen from the anther area of the flower and place it in the nectar, which is located in the stigma---a flap that is on the top right column behind the flower."
ReplyDeleteMy problem is that I don't know what the 'lip', 'anther area' and 'stigma' of the flower is. Is it possible for you to use one of your photos to label these areas so I know what I am doing when it comes time? Any help you can provide would be awesome!
Wow! These are beautiful! Thank for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe blog tells about natural perfumes. I am really surprized to read this valuable information and how nature's products can be utilized.
ReplyDelete