Almost Too Beautiful to Eat

The Naples Botanical Garden recently celebrated all things Orchid as host to the Naples Orchid Society Annual Show and Sale. This year’s theme was “Orchid as Art,” celebrating orchids’ rare beauty.

The Garden had dizzying displays of prize-winning orchids in full bloom with vendors selling a large selection of cattleyas, dendrobiums, phalaenopsis, vanilla orchids and orchid cultivars you’ve never heard of. The visit was a feast for the senses.

Orchids belong to the plant family Orchidaceae, one of the largest families of flowering plants with more than 25,000 species and over 100,000 hybrids and cultivars. They are found throughout the world except Antarctica. Orchids are valued for their beautiful and unique flowers, exotic scents, medicinal uses and some orchids are edible. 

If you love orchids as much as I do, it won’t be long before you start to ask yourself if orchids are edible. I’ve tasted candied rose petals and sautéed squash blossoms. I’ve enjoyed cocktail drinks garnished with a floating magenta orchid; or a delicate dendrobium petal encased in a frozen ball of ice. Trendy! 

Almost too beautiful to eat – the gorgeous purple and white edible orchids are a good addition as an eye-catching garnish to a bowl of green salad.

For Asian stir-fried vegetable dishes, dendrobium orchids add color and texture. Orchids can also be battered and deep fried like tempura. There are farms that grow orchids for cooking and sell the blossoms in bags.

Caution: Orchids bought at flower shops typically aren’t safe to eat. Make sure to check whether an orchid is edible before consuming! Never eat any flower without checking first!!

Did you know that vanilla comes from an orchid? Vanilla planifolia is the orchid variety that is propagated for industrial food production. The flavor comes from the many tiny seeds inside the pod. The little brown flecks in your vanilla ice cream are orchid seeds. Vanilla is highly valued for its flavor and widely used in soft drinks and sweet foods. 

According to vanilla orchid growers, one blossom will produce one fruit or bean pod. The greenish-yellow blossom, which opens for only one day, must be hand-pollinated within a few hours after it opens, otherwise it wilts and dies. It is a very labor-intensive process and vanilla is grown in just a few countries such as Madagascar, Indonesia and Mexico. Today, Madagascar leads the production of vanilla beans and hand pollinates because it lacks the plant’s pollinating bee species (the tiny Melipona bee). 

My neighbor has a towering vanilla orchid climbing up the side wall of his house – it is ten years old and blooms each year with a creamy yellow/green daffodil shaped flowers lasting only one day. He is a die-hard orchid collector and tried hand pollinating the flowers one year but gave up. Imagine your own homegrown vanilla beans!

Vanilla is considered one of the most popular flavors in the food and beverage industry and consumers are also demanding vanilla products free of artificial ingredients.

Can you grow vanilla orchids in Marco? Yes – get yourself a small potted baby Vanilla planifolia or a large cutting. Someone gave me a cutting. They are vining so you’ll want it to climb up a trellis or a small tree - mine looped itself around an old leggy hibiscus. It was not fussy. I left it alone and then one day, delicate flowers emerged! For this masterpiece, I let mother nature take charge. No bee, no bean!

A storm blew the old hibiscus down and I gave away vanilla orchid cuttings to friends but I enjoyed the fantasy of harvesting my own vanilla beans. 

Best orchid for beginners? Phalaenopsis, also known as moth orchid and the ones on display at the supermarket, are the easiest to care for.

Best scented orchid? My favorite - cattleyas, hands down!

Check them out: Locally, Jade Orchid located at 285 Morgan Road, Naples has an inventory of over 20,000 orchids of all kinds and all the supplies you need.