Dee, The core of it is a wire, so it holds shape as well as wire does. The foam is plastic, so rain will run off it. It is very gentle on the plants, as long as you don't leave free ends of wire poking out. I find it best for supporting fruit, not sure how it would work for securing plants against severe weather. It tends to have some gentle curves in it rather than being taut like a rope, the way I use it. I use rope for the actual plant support - some fairly thick and soft rope is my favourite for that. The 'foam rope' is actually a bit too thick and clumsy for training up a plant, the total flexibility of rope makes it easier for that IMO. As regards supporting fruit with it during a storm, I would expect it to hold up well enough if you design the support with those forces in mind. You can shape it around a fruit cluster and then loop back and secure it as tightly as needed. I also sometimes just weave it across the trellis at the level where fruit have formed, and let them rest on it - if you were using a trellis or similar support a tighter weave could also do the trick for storms... I hope!
