painted leaves

I went out last week to buy Mr You's mum a birthday present, spent an hour in a nursery, and came home with this plant for myself. I was just amazed by its leaves. Not only are they a really unusual pale yellow colour, but they look as though each leaf has been uniquely hand-painted. To me it's like someone with a little roller and 2 tones of green paint has passed by.

Actually come to think of it, the pattern reminds me very much of the walls I used to pass along the train lines on my way to work in the city. The railways would use paint rollers to haphazardly paint over grafitti with brown paint; not repainting the enitre wall, just irregular shapes over the tags. But each month the brown paint changed tone slightly, and layers of unusual blocky monochrome patterns overlapped and built into angular landscapes.

The plant is much prettier though; with its painted leaves and pink stems. The man at the nursery assured me that this type of plant is very hardy, and doesn't mind going a little thirsty, we seem well matched, so I'm hoping for a long and happy life together.

(p.s. Mr You's mum did not go gift-less. We got her an outdoor wall hanging from another nursery. Luckily Mr You was with me that time, or I might have kept that too, hee).