I once planted the vanilla species plant as the spot plant in the centre of a paved area in a very sunny, very hot, garden. What a mistake! This thing grew incredibly fast, after about 3 years it as at least 5 feet tall, and thick.
You have to keep them tidy. Their main use is for colour I think.
Landscaping plants really, I think, and they aren't user-friendly either.
Probably the most impressive ones that I have ever seen were growing at the end of someone's drive, in Devon. The front of the garden ended in a lowish stone wall and the front garden sloped up to the house. The plants were just away from the wall and surrounded by large stones/gravel, and lawn. They sort of towered over the country lane. The leaves were nothing special but they did flower - maybe 8 foot spikes. Impressive specimen plants.