Ornamental Corn
Japonica Striped Corn is a breathtakingly ornamental variety that transforms the vegetable garden into living art. Standing 60 inches tall with foliage striped in candy-cane pink, lime green, and cream, this highly decorative cultivar matures in just 75 days and produces striking deep-burgundy flint kernels that are as beautiful as they are edible. It's a plant that earns its garden space not just as food, but as a visual centerpiece that rivals ornamental grasses and flowering annuals.
Full Sun
Moderate
1-13
60in H x 8in W
Annual
High
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This is corn grown for spectacle as much as sustenance. The foliage alone, bands of pink and green racing up the stalks, makes it an arresting garden feature, especially when interspersed among annual flowers. Come fall, the plants dry down to reveal cobs of deep-burgundy flint kernels that are strikingly beautiful in their own right. It's a variety that invites you to look twice and reach for the camera.
Japonica Striped Corn is grown primarily for its extraordinary ornamental value. The striking foliage makes an excellent decorative border throughout the growing season, and the dried stalks can be harvested for short-lived floral arrangements and dried arrangements. The mature kernels, with their deep-burgundy color, are also suitable for decorative corn displays and crafts. While technically edible as a flint corn, this variety is cultivated first and foremost for its visual drama rather than culinary application.
Direct sow seeds outdoors after the last frost date when soil temperature reaches a minimum of 60°F, preferably 65-70°F for optimal germination. Plant seeds at the proper depth and thin seedlings once they've emerged to achieve the 12-inch spacing between plants.
For ornamental use, allow the corn plants to fully mature and dry down in place, which typically occurs by early fall. The dried stalks and cobs can then be cut and used in arrangements. If harvesting the kernels for craft or decorative purposes, wait until the kernels have hardened completely and the husks have dried to a papery texture, which occurs well after the 75-day maturity date.
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