Lots of people have shared information and been helpful to me in the fig forum so 3 years ago when I planted 4 fig trees in my yard I decided to share pictures of them because they were doing so well.  Well, this year there aren't going to be any pictures.  At least not for a while anyway.  My climate is pretty mild and it is moderated by the ocean so it does not usually get real cold.  Last January we had the coldest night since the NWS has been keeping records here starting in 1996.  It went down to 9 and that did it.  The Negronne and Saint Anthony were frozen down to the ground.  I kept checking under the bark of the Hardy Chicago and Celeste and there was only one branch each that showed any green when I scraped it away.  Soon they all started to ooze lots of sap out of their trunks so I cut them all down to the ground.  The Negronne and Saint Anthony have plenty of new shoots to choose from now and the Celeste has a couple so far.  The Hardy Chicago was growing like a low growing tree with one main trunk and lots of branches and so far there are no shoots.    This was their 3rd winter.  I did not give them fertilizer last year and no irrigation after August.  Figs4Fun Link # 077 indicates, "Fig plants are not completely cold hardy in North Carolina.  During severe low temperatures (20 degrees F or less), they may freeze back to the ground.  Young bushes or trees are particularly susceptible to winter injury."  I didn't think there was much risk to my trees but I see in the records it went down to 1 in Morehead City, NC (on the coast) in 1985.  I've learned my lesson:  protect young trees in the ground, at least for a while.

That stinks!

I would like to plant inground up here in MA but for me I won't even try until they are 5 yrs old in pot. Then I will chop down in fall to 3 ft tall and cover with insulation and playwood. The late spring frost is going to be the killer,

Your single trunk is probably ok, just did not have a bud ready at the base of the tree. Mine get frozen back but have lot's of early growth because they have a low bush form now and plenty of already formed buds from last year. I saw my first fig in NC at Ft. Bragg, it was a bush but about 30 ft. wide. Sadly it was destroyed when they tore down the old barracks. The figs were ho-hum anyway. But it does get cold in NC sometimes, I was there during an ice storm in 2004(i think) and everyone was freaking out!

Find some row cover Dominick, it does the trick for tomatoes and peppers. Talk to your local produce farmer and you might be able to get a short roll or two of the wide stuff, thicker is better for re-use, and it is the perfect nest for mice so be careful when you store it. It will also warm things up earlier for you.

  North America is set up for extreme cold  compared to most other continents with exception of Antarctica and Siberia which are colder.  All mountain ranges run north/south instead of east/west and this allows the cold air to reach much further could than it could in Asia and Europe.   I do not think it drops down below 10F in North Africa, South America, southern Europe, Australia, and Asia on your latitude.  A possible exception may be northern China in Beijing where it dropped down to near 0F in January 2010.

The Temperature dropped below -10F in Oklahoma this past January.  The latitude there is about 34N.  There is no place or continent in the world on that latitude that has EVER been that cold other than North America!  This can only happen in North America on latitudes that far south!  North America has the coldest latitudes compared to those same latitudes on all other continents! 

Southern Minnesota is climate zone 4.  I do not think on that same latitude there is a place in Europe that cold!  Not only Europe but there is probably not many places that cold anywhere on that latitude even in the northern hemisphere.