predation afterthought

here's a photo of some hopi blue at the community garden that has shed its husk for some reason or other...why isn't the salient point..it is the appearance of the ears themselves...much more developed than the ones in the back yard ( they are older ) but still not blue...a greenish sort of cast to them but not the deep blue of last season's ears...so..developmental stages or have they cross pollinated with the sweet corn? there is no sweet corn in my yard but hat doesn't mean someone nearby doesn't...it will, perhaps, be instructive to watch the exposed kernels to see if there is nay change with the passage of time or if there is some gene flow going on here.