Q: A few years ago at a job site, I was treating canna lilies for leaf roller. It was a large group of plants so at times I was in a thicket of cannas. I started itching so badly I wanted to claw my skin off. I did not even finish treating the plants. I had to go to the emergency room where they kept applying duct tape to my skin. After several applications of applying & ripping off the duct tape all itching was gone. They thought maybe there were mites on the plants.

Recently I started itching again, not quite as badly as in the past but badly. Then it dawned on me. Now 10 years later and at a different job site I walk by a group of cannas every couple of days. Today I had one of my employees go look at the cannas. He came back with verification that leaf rolling was taking place.

Can you explain what might be happening? I am paranoid to be even close to a canna lily.

A: Canna leaf roller is a legless “grub” with no hairs, so I can’t think of a way it could exude something that would harm you. How were you “treating” the cannas originally? Could you have had a reaction to a pesticide?

Your dermatitis could be a “one-person only” event caused by unknown factors.

Email me if you have ever had a reaction to canna lily.

see Passionvine – Dermatitis