Sunny, I did just that yesterday to prop up a few of my Austins and Louise Odier - used some forked prunings. Looks very natural and works well. Of course, you will need some pretty sturdy prunings to hold up 8' x 3/4" canes. My roses were much smaller. I've tried tying them up with green cloth ties, but it looked too awkward and unnatural. Good luck.
Judith

I keep fence posts in the garage and have had to press them into emergency use for 3 plants. They hold better, and you can tie more stems. It's ugly but I do whatever works easiest for me at the time until I get my arbor back up & plants cut back when done blooming. If you pounded 4, or more, you could cage it with rope, think landscape tape wouldn't be strong enough, nylon cord might work, etc. I use a 3 pound sledgehammer. Wouldn't take that long if you have everything ready to go.

Once they're pounded in, they are very sturdy but may not be tall enough for your rose.

Granted the twigs would be more aesthetic, but you'd probably need more and not brittle ones like I picked up this morning in my yard. I use a lot of hoop stakes I wasn't expecting to have to but doubt they'd be strong enough and you'd have to widen the hoop to get the cane in it.

Also those wrought iron hanging basket holders from Home Depot are shoring up my clematis on 2 sides. Crude, but better than it being on the ground and can use them for baskets later. Those might work especially the taller ones you hang 2 baskets.

If the twigs will really hold, then I'd go that route. Good luck and sorry about your rose. I'm sure it will be ok in the long haul.

And the problem is?

If you don't do anything, laterals will come from the bare parts of the stems. They haven't grown before because they were shaded out. So the current appearance is only temporary.

Now if the problem is that the thing has just gotten too big, then a pruning plan is in order. However, that is going to depend on the goal.

This is my Polar Ice - which is the same rose as yours.. as you can see there is a black thing holding it up. I picked it up from walmart, it's higher edging. You can do the same thing with a metal trellis.
{{gwi:276814}}From Garden Nikon Coolpix 990 05312009 to 06102009

Mad gallica, I would love if the middle filled up with laterals - maybe I should just wait and see.
My concern about the canes snapping under the weight may be unfounded - will get a better idea when I get home later this pm.
Roselvr - I don't think anything short of 5' fencing would work - mine is a monster.

Yours is probably closer in size to what mine was before we moved. Since it's own root, I split the plant up to take a piece. Mine wasn't 8ft tall though, about 5ft, the width was about 5 as well. Same thing with the rain. I used to get creative with whatever I could find to prop canes up or would prune some of the blooms off, or go outside and try to shake them off.

It does not like to be hard pruned. Any large canes I hard prune have died, so watch that.

I would alert FEMA ASAP! - or at least sound the Tornado sireens until it dries up .-)))

I've used different things like ornamental tuteurs from Hobby Lobby that I move around the garden whenever a young plant with long soft heavy canes need a bit of support until they harden up a bit. This year I built some copper pyramids that are more permanent for some of the larger, more lax roses like Reine des Violettes. You just need three or four ten foot lengths of pipe and some means of securing them at the top to make a teepee or pyramid then tie up the heavy canes with green plastic stretchy tape or strips of nylon stockings. I've even seen bungee cords used to tie up some larger climbers! I used a cast iron finial I found at Hobby Lobby (a great place to find inexpensive and interesting garden ornaments and such) and filled it with plumber's putty then shoved the pipes up into it. You can also use rebar instead of copper and tie it off with a hose clamp.

I cut the pipes down to 8 feet then pounded them into the ground about a foot and a half. It's really stable and I can still pull it out if I want to move it.
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And I agree that pruning can help in the future, or consider pegging as suggested to get those laterals to pop and get even more bloom next year. For now all you can do is prop it up and hope for the best and dry weather!

Rain? What is this thing you call rain? Definitely don't have those problems. Mine are more of the survival of the fittest nature right now.

This is the rose she is talking about Polareis AKA Polar Ice. It is a Hybrid Rugosa

The canes get huge - I think the biggest one I had was the size of a quarter or close to it. I just went outside & looked at mine, I have a new basal that's almost larger then a quarter.. the older canes are not as wide, the plant is very top heavy.

It's very thorny.. getting your arm in there to stake it; well lets just say you'd get cut up pretty bad. lol

You need a decent pair of gauntlets to say the least.

I am with mad gallica on this. It is going to grow laterals in this position. If you leave it alone, the laterals will form, but if you prune it you will stop that process. The canes need the bend that encourages lateral growth. Think of it as self-pegged.

linrose, that is really nice. I've got some flimsier ones in 2 parts that don't work as well as I'd hoped, don't recommend them even though they are green and kind of a filigree design, too skinny, but your solution is very lovely, creative, more stable, and looks just as nice especially if the rose covers most of it.

For my shrub roses and short climbers, I don't know why I couldn't get by with say 6' sections of 3/8" rebar to keep them in bounds, maybe 5' because of cutting and waste of the other part.

I've only had to stake a couple rose canes w/hoop stakes from the rain, but that's because several are immature and still on the smallish side.

The sides are slowly lifting, and one cane has popped up in the middle. It now resembles a head of hair, center parted and slicked down, frizzing up around the ears and with one wayward cowlick sticking stright up - Alfred E Neuman style. I am just going to ride it out. I think I might cut off the blossom ends of the canes, since most of them are browned and ugly, then thin out to leave the pink buds that are hiding behind and under the ugly ones. At least get a few spectacular bouquets out of this!

I have had a few shrubs where the rain has beaten them down due to the heaviness of the wet blooms. I cut off the blooms (by then they were ugly brown messes) and starting fluffing or straightening them up. Gradually they straightened up but not perfectly. Good luck!