A Garden Grows in Space: First Zinnias Bloom, to Astronaut's Delight

Zinnias have opened their pretty petals for the first time on the International Space Station, and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly couldn't be prouder. To better balance conditions for the zinnias, NASA named Kelly an autonomous gardener (or "commander" of Veggie) on Christmas Eve, so he could independently decide when the plants needed to be watered or tended to instead of waiting for directives from Earth. Earlier this year, the space station crew grew romaine lettuce (and snacked on it, while thei