Delphinium variegatum (Mike Wang's family property, San Francisco Bay Area, CA)

Origin and conservation significance

A Delphinium variegatum population grown out from seeds Mike collected from his family's property in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The plant grew on the property minutes from where Mike grew up. The property was sold/destroyed and turned into a residential home — the wild population there is extirpated.

Mike collected seeds from the entire population before it was lost. He also planted D. variegatum throughout his Northern California property as a deliberate distributed-backup strategy, hedging against any single planting site failing.

This is one of the few non-Sarracenia entries in this wiki and represents a personal conservation accession.

Cultivation framework (Mike's published protocol)

Light, photoperiod, substrate, sun exposure, spacing, summer- dormancy management, feeding, sowing date — see the cultivation notes section in frontmatter. Mike's working sow date: 11/4/24, photos at exactly one year (11/4/25) show 1-year-old plants ready to flower the following season.

The hardest part of the cultivation: summer dormancy management. Fleshy storage roots die from extremes in either direction (too dry or too wet). Mike's approach is judgment-based — described as "art" rather than a rigid protocol.

Standout traits

Conservation accession — the entire wild population at the original site is extirpated; cultivation seed lineage is the surviving remnant.

Distributed across Mike's NorCal property as a deliberate genetic backup strategy.

Photo-sensitive vegetative growth — needs long-day photoperiods to grow vegetatively, otherwise goes dormant even at seedling stage.

Light-required germination — seeds will not germinate buried.

Cold (above-freezing) germination requirement.

1.5-year-old plants typically reach flowering size.

Cultivation

Mike's published growing protocol for D. variegatum:

Light to germinate — surface-sow, do not bury seeds.
Photo-sensitive vegetative growth — long days (short nights) required for vegetative growth. Indoor growers should use short photoperiods (9-11 hours) to NOT force them out of dormancy artificially. Even seedlings will go dormant under long photoperiods if conditions don't otherwise support vegetative growth.
Substrate: 40% sand + 60% potting soil.
Light: full sun outdoors, but watch soil temperature on unusually warm days — move to shade when too hot.
Spacing: crowd OK first year; second year requires separation or plants will struggle.
Summer dormancy is the hardest part — fleshy storage roots die if too dry, rot if too wet. Mike's approach: pot dries out completely after growing season, kept in a cool no-direct-sun location. Add water sparingly to keep top layer slightly damp; keep deeper soil dry. Frequency is judgment-based ("it's art").
Feeding: low-N, high-P-K fertilizer at half strength during winter growing season.
Cold tolerance: probably tolerates light frost (untested).
Sowing date: Mike's protocol — sow in early November when it's getting cooler. Mike sowed his on 11/4/24 and photographed a year later on 11/4/25.

Photos (6)