This shrub is the one to blame for the delicious smell of rain in the Sonoran Desert! It is one of my Top 10 favorite plants in this region, especially because it is found in my home in Baja California Sur and in Arizona. It is a bush that can reach up to 9 ft tall, with small leaves and such cute little yellow flowers. Its seeds are velvety, its stems are thin and flexible.
The leaves exude an oil that is what gives it its distinctive aroma, some people believe that it is not good to plant anything around Creosote bush because that "oil" does not allow the growth of other species. This is false, as can be seen in the natural landscape, there are creosote bushes and other plants growing together.
Creosote bush can beautify your garden as it is an excellent plant to combine with others. Its stems are thin and have a delicate appearance, they give a good contrast if you combine them with cacti and agaves. We have several creosotes in our garden, one of them is in our outdoor shower in the backyard, every time we shower we can appreciate the smell that emanates with the water from the shower. Among many ancient uses, it is still used as a home remedy for athlete's foot and it is known that it was very popular among cowboys, as they used the twigs to prevent foot odor.
Many insects evolved along with this wonderful plant, one of them being the stick insect Diapheromera covilleae, as well as Tachardiella larreae, a type of scale insect that exudes a substance that has been used as glue.
A very small fly (Asphondylia auripila) produces little balls on the stems of creosote, that is where they lay their eggs and use the plant as a host. They don't harm the plant, but they do look interesting.
In the book Baja California Plant Field Guide by Norman C. Roberts and Jon P. Redman, 3rd edition, it's mentioned the age that this plant can acquire. Creosote bush settled 17,000 years ago near the southern Colorado River and expanded into the southwestern United States and Mexico. The oldest creosote known, found in the Mojave Desert, is 11,700 years old and is considered the oldest plant on the planet.
Type: Shrub, perenial, evergreen.
Size: 3 to 9 ft tall.
Water use: Very little, drought tolerant.
Flower season: Spring, summer and autumn.
Flowers: Small, yellow.
Food for: Lizards, grasshoppers, bees, black-tailed hare and more!
Where to plant: Full sun.
Distribution: Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahuan deserts.
Ancestral use: Used as tea from the leaves and stems for stomachaches, diarrhea, colic, coughs, and colds. It was also used to relieve rheumatic pain, ulcers, and leg swelling.
Landscaping: Contrast creosote with other more voluminous plants such as agaves, nopales, saguaros, etc. If you have an outdoor shower, plant one or two around it so you can enjoy the smell of rain every day. The branches look great in flower arrangements.