OHHH NOOO! I am so sorry to read this!!

I don't have a lot of advice, as to new growth and stiffening canes. But, one thing i do on the bushes that get lax, is tie loose, flexible garden tape around the entire bush, about a third of the way up the bush and, like the rim of a vase, at least you contain the bottom and let the top fall a bit more gracefully out the top two thirds. And actually, I do think canes tend to stiffen as they age.

Perhaps if they are 6 feet tall, tying this at two to three feet up from the ground (and if too far up, perhaps two circles of twine...i am rambling!).

some weight off of the top when you can do it might help.

also, with some sun on those lower areas, new growth might occur.

good luck with this!!! and i can imagine how frustrated you were. :(

Thanks so much for the advice, ilovemyroses. I think I'll try tying them up. I was hoping jeri or someone who grows a lot of Chinas would read this also and might have some ideas on how he's going to respond. This was one of my prettiest beds, and now it's a disaster.

Floridarosez, so sorry to hear about LP's accident. I decided this year not to prune LP because of the way he seemed to react last year. He wasn't real happy but it may not have been related to the pruning. This year I cut out dead stuff and cut him back from the path. I chose not cut his height at all. Since Chinas and Teas in my garden tend to sprout umbrella growth when (and where) cut, I wanted to avoid that with minimal cutting. When I do cut, it's way back at the point of origination, and even then I get multiple new shoots, but not as much dieback.

So.... I don't think I'd shorten him. Mine leaned and flopped terribly at the end of last season. His canes are so thin, they just couldn't support all that heavy top growth. I pulled him back with a rope tied to 2 stakes and waited for pruning time when I did cut the long, thick canes that were coming off thinner canes. For yours I think I would do what ilovemyroses suggested - wrap him up loosely to hold him together, and if he leans, stake him. If you cut him, he will just add more growth and that will worsen the situation in the long run, imho.

I and a rose friend here have seen a lot of new dieback this spring. It's very odd but not killing the roses.

Also, re Louis, I have seen a massive one growing in a friend's garden - way bigger than a VW bus, maybe the size of two side-by-side VW buses or bigger. He was wide and tall like a sphere. That must be the way he likes to grow. I can't do wide in my small garden, so I'm letting him get as tall as he wants. Back to your rose, maybe over time in stages you could loosen the ropes that you use to wrap him and gradually he'll get strong enough and his canes will get thick enough to support himself.

Hope this helps.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I had something similar happen to a youngish, fast-growing Mme. Antoine Mari who got hit with a huge wind/rain storm several years ago. All her main canes collapsed, leaving huge holes in the canopy, like you describe. My solution was to hammer in some 4' or 5' rebar stakes (it took two, one on each side) fairly close to the trunk (maybe 1' away). Then I took some of those tree "ties" (the kind with rubber tire strips 1" x 8" or so with a wire fastened to each end of the rubber) and used those to hoist up each main cane, wrapping the wires tightly around the top of the rebar stake. The supports were soon invisible (I've notice that Chinas and teas seem to respond to "catastrophe" by producing an abundance of new growth, soon filling just about any hole). Three or so years down the road, Mme. is more mature and more able to withstand the storms, very much self-supporting.

Sherry, my LPs are growing large and very rounded also. They have never been pruned before and are--or rather were magnificent.

I think I'm going to take a chair out there and sit and cogitate on what's going to work the best for them. Catspa's solution sounds doable, but a lot of work as there are six of them. I do think, though, that one way or the other I'm going to wrap the canes rather than prune anything.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I knew I could get help here.

Sorry to hear about the poor rose. Last summer my Mme Alfred Carrier got hit by a major windstorm. She lost about half of herself.
Like Catspa suggested I also used rebar on each side of her. Then I used a bungie cord which I got a Wally World to attach her to the rebar. The bungie cord made it easy for me as I could attach one end of the cord to the rebar and then wrap it around the bush. I did it at both the 2 1/2' height and at the four.
Knock on would she seems just fine this year...
They are resilient. Good luck.
Jeannie