Question
I am looking for a red groundcover rose  edging a lawn and a naturally acidic sandy soil forest edge.  Will a Meidiland rose handle it.  Red trail sounds great, Fire Meidiland has also been suggested.  Rosa Rugosa Linda Campbell or Hunter are possibilities.  Your opinion please.   Also will Altissimo handle some shade or do you have another suggestion for disease resistant, bright colored pillar or short climber that will handle some shade.  All the perenials grew fine but leaned as they are at the edge of the drip line of neighbors tall tree. Thank you

Answer
Meilland red roses are good ones, I love Fire Meilland but it is prone to black spot. Hunter is by far better than  Linda Campbell as it has nicer shaped flowers and always has many on the bush. It will grow to about 5 feet tall and has loads of nasty thorns on the canes so I wouldn't call it a ground cover rose. Linda Campbell grows the same way. Alitissimo will handle some shade but should if possible should get 5 hours of full sun. Alas this is another rose which is prone to black spot. Reds are really prone to disease if they are grown in a wet or humid type climate or don't get good air circulation. Sympathie, Dynamite and Dublin Bay, in my opinion, are better red climbers. Black spot seems to like the bright colours so if you put these colours in the shade they tend to get it. Any rose grown with less than 6 hours of full sun will survive but you won't get as many or as many flowers. The Bourbon climber, Zepherine Drouhin, handles shade and blooms well too. There is a class of roses called Hybrid Musks and these do okay in shade and bloom well. They also will survive quite cold winters. Hope this helps. Lynnette