Well, we can't have you losing your wife and your congregation over sweet corn!
Last year was tough here in Texas--drought. I had planted Honey 'n' Pearl hybrid from Parks, and it survived and thrived. Really good taste, minimal problem with ears not being fully developed. It is pricey, but for a home gardener (especially one whose livlihood and happiness depends on successful corn)it is worth the price. parkseed.com
Also, Shumway's has Illinichief xtra sweet. Is that anything like the Ilina Super Sweet you remember? www.rhshumway.com

I am not a fan of the SH2's (supersweets) But there are several bicolors that get good reviews from those who do. Mirai 301 BC, Xtra Tender 270, Xtra Tender 272, Honey and Pearl, Double-Up, Summer Sweet series 7102R, 8102R,6802R. Gotta Have It is a Gurney's exclusive but I don't have any further info on it. SH2's seem to be losing ground to the synergistics. They don't have to be isolated and have better cool soil emergence. You may also want to look at size of plant and maturity for your conditions. Burpee has Sun and Stars, which you may find on a local seed rack.

Montauk is a synergistic bi-color that has 25% sh2 and 75% se. Stokes sells it

The best tasting corn I ever grew was Burpee's Maple Sugar. It is head and shoulders above the rest. All yellow. YMMV.

Your question is going to get a whole range of answers, because there is so much diversity of taste for corn from person to person.

My personal favorite for many, many years (like 30) was 'Illini Xtra Sweet' -- however, in the past six or eight years, I found 'Sun and Stars' Hybrid from Burpee, which is also an Sh2. Far superior to anything else I've tried.

Last year, I tried some of these new "super premium" types -- including 'Mirai' yellow, bicolor, and white, 'Gotta Have It' and 'Its So Delicious' (the same thing, I'm pretty sure) from Gurney's/Fields. These are all the "ShQ" corns I've been hearing about (please note, ShQ is a term developed by the marketing people, an acronym for Super High Quality, and is NOT a genetics term. I think these corns are all synergistic hybrids). Well, they were OK, but none of them were as good as my beloved 'Sun and Stars'.

As far as the cold-soil germination of Sh2 corns, well, I start all of mine in the greenhouse anyway, so that isn't an issue for me. I pretty much would recommend that approach to anyone here in the North.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Pastor: I don't know what last year's disappointment was, here is one you can avoid if you plant a sH2 type. If planted in cold soil (below 65 deg. F) you are likely to get poor germination, the colder the worse it will be. The Se types are a little better in that respect. I too lament what a space hog sweetcorn can be but continue to grow it as there are no outlets to buy any in bulk within an hour's drive of here.

I grew corn for the first time last year and though the patch was small, we got a few good meals of corn. I am going to try a bigger patch this year, surrendering my back yard to the garden, but I am sticking with the varieties I grew. I selected synergystic types, because they seem to combine the best of the traits of the su and sh2. I grew Honey Select (yellow) and Cinderella (white) intentionally grown together to create "bicolor" ears. It worked perfectly as I had imagined, with the Honey Select taking on 10-25% white kernels, while the White had more subtle yellowing in 15% or so of the kernels. Both had amazing taste and texture. My yield was low, but that was due to several things I did (mainly the small area for them and picking early, then too late... newbie mistakes I hope!), but it was worth the effort as some of the best corn I have eaten.

By the way, I was trying the "Three Sisters" thing, with Rattlesnake and Blue Lake pole beans and Sunshine Kabocha and Honeyboat Delecata squash in the bed as well, but the beans never got going and the squash all headed up the fence or into the path. :) Still got 3 good Delecata and 8 or so of the Kabocha. Everyone commented on my "beautiful little pumpkins"... and half the Kabocha went out as Halloween decorations. I am going to try again with the beans, and in the new cornfield the squash should have more room to do their thing without looking to make a run for the exits.

there are three varieties of sweet corn that are worth growing silver queen,golden bantam, country gentleman . the rest just don't taste good and are not worth your time.

Pastor_Steve, you mentioned giving up the white...the "How Sweet It Is" cultivar is a white SH2. It's been around for more than 25 years. Gurney had it a year or so ago but I did not see it in their choices. A few years ago I ordered 2lbs of the HSII fro Gurney using the same discount that they are now offering - i.e. $25 off on a $50 order. I've kept the remaing seed in a sealed jar in an outside refrigerator or freezer. So far germination losses have been minimal - so long as it's not planted in cooler soil as noted above.

On my next order, if HSII is not available at Gurney, and assuming Gurney continues to offer the same $25 discount, I think I will probably order the Honey & Pearl. (Note that Honey & Pearl seems to have a couple of favorable votes in the above posts.)

When it comes to taste, as the saying goes... "beauty will always be in the eye of the beholder...". I believe the above comments show this to be the case.

hmmm. well, without berating anyone over their individual choices, the best thing to do is educate yourself about the various sweet corns available and the advantages/disadvantages of each. About 90% of the sweet corn seed in the U.S. is produced by two companies. Mesa Maize and Crookham. For those of you who are interested, Burpee deals with Mesa.

http://www.mesamaize.com/

http://www.crookham.com/

There are really good sweet corns available in each class. You are getting recommendations for SU, SE, and SH2 varieties. I suggest you carefully evaluate the synergistic hybrids because they are most likely to meet your needs.

DarJones

I met the head cheese of Mesa Maize, David Galinant, while a crop consultant in the Uncompahgre Valley back in the 90's. David at that time was rather eccentric and very dedicated to sweetcorn breeding, it appears he has been very sucessful at it.

You might try Bodacious. Not a bicolor but nice,full ears with almost no bug problems. It's an se. Keeps well too.

I planted "How Sweet It Is" last year and it was TERRIFFIC! Not only was it extra sweet, it lasted a couple weeks on the stalk with no change in flavor. Unfortunately, the raccoons got to eat more of it than we did. I finally put up a solar powered electric fence(from Tractor Supply Co.) and managed to get a late crop of Ruby Queen (all to myself...). The only down side was that many of the "How Sweet" stalks blew over after a big storm, so I jury rigged wires on either side of the rows, midway up the stalks 7 mounded some dirt to help re-support - well worth it.

I will be ordering more next week. This time from HenryFields.com($25 coupon) - they are affiliated with Gurneys someway or another. They say their seed is "treated" - I don't recall Gurney's being treated.

I'm going with (3) different sh2 types this year - main crop will be "That's Delicious" - supposed to be sturdier?, and depending on the temps I'll plant "Northen Xtra-Sweet" early or late...and I'll squeeze in some more "How Sweet It Is". Fertlizing and warm soil is key, but the "Northern Extra Sweet" says it'll take cooler temps...

Last year I wished I had bought more sh2 seed to plant subsequent rows - nobody in Cincinnati carried sh2 or even heard of it...This winter, I have already seen an sh2 at Lowes...

I have the names confused...I just looked at last years Gurney's invoice, It was the bicolor sh2 "Gotta Have it", that I planted last year, NOT the white sh2 "How Sweet it is". Like I said, I'm buying from Henry Fields this year.

Personally, I think...Gurney's "Gotta Have it" and Henry Fields "That's Delicious" are one in the same...

PARK'S BUTTERFRUIT CONES IN WHITE, YELLOW OR YELLOW AND WHITE. I PLANT A HALF AN ACRE OF THE YELLOW AND WHITE EVERY YEAR. iTS THE BEST SWEET CORN YOU'LL EVER TASTE. WE FREEZE ALOT TOO. john

We grew "Gotta Have It" for the past two years. And we also loved it. I think it was the best tasting corn. It froze well too, almost tasted as good as the day we picked it! Last year our germination rate was not as good as the year before. I think it had something to do with the weather. This year we are going to try "Polka" from Johnnys and we will also be growing "Gotta Have It". "Polka" is one of the synergistics so it should be interesting to see how it compares to "Gotta Have It".

Daryljurassic, I think you are right about the "Gotta Have It" and "That's Delicious" being the same, I was thinking the same thing myself. I did not realize that Henry Fields was treated that is interesting, Gurneys isn't.
We had our second crop of corn blow over last year too.
Not sure but I think we tried the "Northern Xtra-Sweet" the year before last and it did not even compare to the "Gotta Have It". It did not grow as good for us. I hope you have better luck with it.

I think that seed companies sometimes use a generic name of their own on some things like sweetcorn or maybe watermelons. I noticed that Henry Field has a watermelon named Sweet Cheer that is the very same picture as SF 900 from Abbott and cobb's listing in Twilley Seed.

You don't say how it didn't do well. If it was germination, it could have been cold soil, insects or disease. You are lucky to be in corn country, so just wait to plant your sweet corn until about 2 weeks after everyone is really busy planting their field corn.

As to variety, it is all in the eye of the beholder. I would suggest that rather than order from a catalog, visit your local farm co-op, maybe another farm supply place, and you will find that they have bulk seed in the spring, and often it is treated. The treating will improve your germination and early growth by protecting the corn from soil insects and disease and help them get through cold soil if you have some cool weather. The seed they sell is often the most well known varieties, but it generally provides a mix of types and flavors and will generally do well in your area or they won't be selling it for long. Try small amounts of a couple varieties.