Next time, plant them in compact blocks, not long rows, so they don't have neighbors of different varieties. 6 rows across of each variety. Where you get taste problems is if you have "field corn" pollinating sweet corn. They have very different textures. Green field corn is good (Mexican treat called "elote") but not if you expect sweet corn.

To the plant, pollination is pollination. To the gardener who wants particular results (such as wanting to keep an heirloom variety pure), cross-pollination (cross-breeding) is something to avoid. To a grower or scientist who is trying to create a new variety, cross-pollination is desirable. It's all on your point of view. Like Dave said, some varieties are very genetically stable, like his Nantes carrots. Others, like curcubits, are notorious for cross-pollinating. If you're growing certain kinds of decorative gourds, and zucchini or other squashes, insects will cross-pollinate them very easily, and if you saved the seeds from your wonderful zucchini and planted them, they could end up being something almost unrecognizable and tasteless. "Does cross pollination always create a hybrid?" Yes and no. Technically, every pollinated plant is producing a hybrid, because every plant from every seed has a tiny, microscopic difference from the plant next to it, although it is, for most purposes, the same. Only cuttings, cloned or tissue-cultured plants are exactly the same as the parent stock. Plants labeled 'hybrids' have been crossed from plants with noticeably different qualities. If you crossed two of these 'hybrids', they would most likely revert back to the qualities of one or the other of the 'parents'. Granny Smith apples came from crabapples. If you planted a Granny Smith seed and nutured it for several years, you would probably end up with some sort of crabapple or similar variation. Two additional bits of info (just to confuse you a little more ;-) ): 1) You can be growing two similar plants near each other, but if they flower at different times, they won't (can't) cross-pollinate. Corn is a good example: there are early, mid-season and late varieties of corn. Corn cross-pollinates easily because it's wind-borne, but if they tassle (the 'flower') at different times and there is no other corn around (esp upwind), they won't cross. If Alfie's apples (above) needed a pollinator variety, and he accidentally planted a variety that bloomed a month after his Macintosh, he wouldn't get any apples. 2) OP varieties can be 'manipulated' even within the variety. You can have a packet of seed of a single variety of an OP plant, and each seed inside will have a tiny difference about it. Many people will grow a particular variety that they like, and they will watch for 'special' ones among that variety: a tiny bit earlier, a slightly larger fruit, a sweeter flavor, a slightly higher yield, etc, and they will mark it and let a few fruits of that plant mature and collect the seed. The next year, they plant that seed, and again look for 'special' plants. Every year, they keep doing this, and end up (hopefully) with localized variety within a named variety that is especially suited to their local conditions. It's still the same variety, it's still OP, it's just an improved variation within that variety. If you bought seeds from a grower in BC, and you bought the same variety from a grower in ON, the local seeds might produce plants that had a slight edge on local conditions, concerning earliness, adaptibility to hot summers, or ability to grow with a bit less water. The seeds from BC might adapt better to cooler summers, more humidity, and a longer season.

I am torn between wanting pansyloverandgrower to get the right information and incurring the wrath of countrycarolyn again. But I'll risk it. The comment about the cross pollination of Curcurbits is not accurate. Cucumbers are forms of Cucumis sativus. Melons are Cucumis melo. Pumpkins and squashes are usually Curcurbita pepo, Curcurbita maxima, C mixta or C moschata. They cannot cross with Cucumis. ie squashes and pumpkins cannot cross with melons and cucumbers. There is some complexity as to what extent the different Curcurbita and Cucumis species can cross with each other within the Genus. There is a table in the link. As far as the fruit produced is concerned cross pollination will not affect it as regards appearance or eating quality. What might be affected is the next generation of offspring if you save the seed and sow it. None of your other listed plants will cross with each other as they are all different species. Here is a link that might be useful: Cross pollination in curcurbits

Agree with Wayne about planting now in your zone. My last planting went in July 15th and that was a few days late for me in my zone and I'll be pushing my luck on frost. All depends on the variety and its DTM whether you can get away with it or not. Worth the gamble? Just depends on how you feel about wasting the seed or not. On the crossing - agree with farmer dill about the super sweets but interplanting any 2 different varieties of corn can reduce quality of both. Sure the other types are less picky as he said but they often still turn out to have been a waste of space and time when it comes to flavor and texture. Next year plant intensively with the same variety to insure good germination and then thin as needed rather than trying to play catch-up with poor germination. Some seed waste true, but much better results in the long run. Dave