For me according to Help Me Find it would not be hardy here for me. VM doesn't appear as though it''s available in the US unless maybe Ludwig's in Arizona has it. Don't believe I've seen it talked about yet. However if I lived in a warmer zone I'd try it as it's said to be disease resistant.

It's not clear from HMF if Vanilla Meidiland and Vanilla Bonica are the same rose or different? Vanilla Bonica is grown in a Russian garden 140 kilometers northeast of Moscow so it should be hardy enough for Illinois. HMF often gives only zone 6 as default. It means they don't know.

eh, according to HelpMeFind, the two vanillas are different plants-introduced in different years at any rate...but at any rate they both seem rather short plants. Looks pretty tho:)

I'm not familiar with it, but I grow Frederic Mistral, and he can get to be rather tall; a sort of upright but wide hybrid tea shape.. I have seen in ground versions top 7 feet when they're happy here. Not sure what zone you're in, but we don't get snow or even much frost here, so theres no winter kill.

Not so sure you could get the two to be the same size-Vanilla Medilland is described as being able to be used as groundcover, which implies a totally different style of growth to Frederic Mistral.

Hi guys, yes I think you are right in that VM and VB may indeed be different plants. I am in Europe, so hardiness does matter. Anyway, having read the previous posts and comments about Frederic Mistral, it now seems to me it would really be better off as a solo plant. I wish I had seen this forum before. Any idea how tall Freddy might be in Europe at around the latitude of Poland? I guess this would correspond to US zone 5 or 6. Or are growth patterns different in US and Europe? I did not realize VM was not available in the US - but at least that explains why it has not been discussed on this site.