Q: My daughter is a freshman at Ga. Tech. and I’d like to plant a gold-and-black area in my landscape. I know there’s black mondo grass but what perennial plants would make a yellow color?

A: I suggest you surround a Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mop’ with large, dark colored pots filled with black mondo. Under the pots, plant golden creeping Jenny, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’. Your daughter will be so proud of you!

UPDATE:

After the above Q&A appeared in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, astute reader Bill S. replied:

“Your questioner has a nice idea to include his daughter’s school colors in his landscape, but I hope she will tell him that Georgia Tech’s colors are white and gold, not black and gold. This should give him more choices, and a nicer looking yard.”

Sure enough, the lyrics to “The Ramblin’ Wreck” include:

“Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I’d dress her in White and Gold,
And put her on the campus, to cheer the brave and bold.”

Ha! So much for my fact-checking!