The planet is warming up but don’t worry—we can now grow zinnias and other flowering plants in space.

Right when it seems like the climate-change-addled earth is going to hell—threatening super storms on the East Coast and a year of record-breaking temperature—the Next Frontier pulls through. 

Scientific American reported today that zinnias have bloomed at NASA’s International Space Station, holding promise for growing other flowering plants like tomatoes or vegetables that could then feed astronauts (or future occupants of the Space State).  

Though plenty of plants have grown at the station in the past, zinnias are special, because their sensitivity makes them more temperamental. The flowers battled mold and periods of overwatering and dryness, but after NASA gave astronaut Scott Kelly the go-ahead to follow his green thumb instead of taking orders from colleagues on Earth, the zinnias flourished. 

Besides the astronauts getting to enjoy pretty flowers, the development is encouraging for earthlings—maybe when the planet can no longer sustain human life, we’ll be able to eat kale from the comfort of our spaceships.