By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Snow covered the ground late last month in Rock Island at the Quad Cities Botanical Center. Located at 2525 4th Ave., the Center is adjacent to the QCCA Expo Center, where the Quad Cities Farm Show was held.

Both are near the Mississippi River and a drive over the bridges into Iowa this time of the year may garner a view of a bald eagle or two. That and the snow-covered plants offered winter’s stark beauty in all its icy majesty, but those seeking a bit of green at this year’s farm show walked a few hundred feet for another type of agriculture – tropical.

The Center has been open since June 1998 and what may attract a sun worshipper this time of the year is the Sun Garden, which is actually a collection of gardens which offer insight into agriculture that many in the Midwest don’t often see. Besides the Koi fish in the shallow ponds, a 14-foot waterfall and a 70-foot skylight it was fun to check out the plants and read about their uses.

One of the agricultural plants included in the garden was vanilla. Center information explained: “This commercially grown orchid gives us vanilla flavoring/extract from the fruits that look similar to green (string) beans before they are cured and dried.

“Cultivation and handling of vanilla for trade markets is often a delicate and lengthy process. Therefore, vanilla is one of the most expensive spices in the world.” Who knew vanilla could double as a corsage?

Another plant used in cooking is allspice. The Center stated the name of this plant is derived from the “Spanish pimienta for black pepper, which describes the appearance of the dried, whole fruits and the ‘bite’ of the spice’s fragrance and taste: a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove.”

Another spice used in meat and stews, in the garden, were bay leaves. At one time the berries were pressed and the oil was used in medicine and for soap and candles. The cardamon plant’s seeds are used in Indian curry and in perfume.

According to literature, “People also chew the seeds to freshen the breath. Cultivation is very labor intesive, therfore cardamom, along with vanilla and saffron, is one of the world’s most expensive spices.”

The chewing gum, or spodilla, tree’s sap is used for gum. The sap is called chicle. The fruit is edible, as well.

While the coconut plant was interesting, one of the most eyecatching was the banana plant. It is not a tree, but “the largest herbaceous (soft-tissue) plant in the world; each banana stalk can only produce one bunch of fruit in its lifecycle – about two years.
A purple-red bract formation resembling a flower appears at the crown of the plant and peels back its layers to reveal female flowers – whose ovaries develop into bananas.

“The purple-red bract will continue to grow down and reveal male flowers later as the banana fruits develop and ripen.”

A coffee shrub also fits into this tightly packed garden paradise. The berries are left to ripen into seeds, which are then roasted and ground: “Each shrub produces an average of one pound of coffee per year.”

Chocolate is an ancient delicacy that dates back to the Mayans. Hernan Cortes is credited with spreading the plant through the Caribbean and West African islands. The scientific term Teobroma cacao means, “food for the gods.” The seeds from the fruit are fermented, roasted then made into chocolate.

Along with spices and fruits in the botanical center garden, there were the Franipani flowers of the Plumeria. These are used in Hawaiian leis and soaps, lotions and oils.