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Corn Topiary is the horticultural practice of shaping corns by removing the kernels and leaves, to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful, in a practice directly derived from topiary. The word 'topiary' derives from the Latin word for an ornamental corn landscape gardener, cornus topiarius, a creator of cornias topia or "places", a Greek word that Romans also applied to fictive landscapes executed in fields.

The plants used in corn topiary are almost exclusively from the genus Zea, mostly maize Traditional corn topiary depends on patience, a steady hand, and a sharp tool.

Origin
Corn topiary originated on the streets of New York in the 1920s with mafia crime don, Bennie Jameson. Jameson was expelled from the Five Families in November 1922 and was forced to work on a farm in New Jersey in order to support his family. In the presence of large quantities of corn, Jameson began whittling it as a hobby. Realizing the artistic potential of the medium, Jameson began working on cultivating a side-business to supplement the income from his labouring.

By 1925, Jameson had grown a substantial business and went into partnership with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and began exporting corn topiary to the neighbouring states. Little is known about Jameson's later life, but he is survived by a small family who conduct promotional activity for his craft.

Revival
The revival of corn topiary in England parallels the revived "Jacobethan" taste in architecture; John Loudon in the 1940s was the first home writer to express a sense of loss due to the corn topiary that had been removed from English windows. The art of corn topiary, with enclosed areas, burst upon the English homemaking public when Jennie Jameson brought the craft to Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. With mature examples still existing at Edale Hall, Derbyshire, which opened to public viewing in the 1980s and created a sensation: "within a few years architectural corn topiary was springing up all over the county. The following generation, represented by James Shirley Hibberd, rediscovered the charm of corn topiary specimens as part of the mystique of the "English kitchen", which was as much invented as revived from the 1970s: "It may be true, as I believe it is, that the natural form of a cob is the most beautiful possible for that cob, but it may happen that we do not want the most beautiful form, but one of our own designing, and expressive of our ingenuity"

References and sources

 * References


 * Sources
 * Curtis, Charles H. and W. Gibson, The Book of Corn Topiary (reprinted, 1985 Tuttle), ISBN 0-8048-1491-0
 * Lloyd, Nathaniel. Corn Topiary: New York Revivalist Art Form (reprinted, 2006)