Vanilla comes from an orchid?

When I came across the little known fact that in 1806 Charles Francis Greville had a  vanilla orchid bloom in his greenhouse at Paddington Square just outside of London, I had no idea what an important tidbit that was going to become for me. I had no idea that I would take that fact and run with it. Run with it for about

175, 000 words or so.  All I could say was who is Charles Francis Greville?  and Vanilla beans come from an orchid? Looking back now, I see it was fate that took me on a long journey of discovery from Google to The Gardener's Daughter . I was destined to write the story.