Why you can't plant creosote in your yard

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There is nothing like the smell of the desert after a rain. The smell, if you truly live in a desert area, is a plant called creosote. If you don't want to wait for it to rain, just squeeze a bit of it between your fingers and smell. I've lived in the Sonoran Desert since I was twenty, and am very familiar with that wonderful smell.

And, as you can tell, I am interested in plants. Although my preference is for tropical plants, over the years I've met quite a few people who really like the desert stuff. And the one question that keeps coming up is "can you plant creosote?" Sorry, the answer is no.

In spite of hearing many claims to the contrary, creosote is something that you can't put in your garden. If you already have some on your property, that's the only way you are going to get any. David Attenborough in the 1984 documentary "The Living Earth", explains

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