Well, I guess it's comforting to hear the majority of us are experiencing the same thing.  Consider this thread a support group.  :)   I'm sure we'll be seeing green any day now.

I'd like to update my post. I walked over to my neighbors house to check on their in ground Hardy Chicago. It has multiple 1-2" trunks from being killed to the ground over the years, in all it covers about a 6' x 10' area. It receives no protection aside from whatever leaves might blow into it, planted on the NE side of a detached garage (pretty poor placement in my book).

To me it looks dead to the ground, all of last year's growth is totally dead and dry. The main trunks don't look good either, appear dry and the bark looks ready to fall off. I'll update if I see any growth.

Hey Frank, I am also in zone 7(b) here in Central Arkansas. Most of the figs around town are just starting to break bud now. I just talked to one of my friends who has a large, prolific Texas Everbearing. He thought it was gone because it normally breaks early April. But just this week is he seeing signs of life. I think this spring has just been so much cooler than normal that our figs are acting more like zone 6 than zone 7.

In central coastal NJ, the three in-ground and protected, marseilles black vs is green/alive down low but still dormant, the atreano is budding at ground level, the gino's is unknown.

Of the numerous potted, in garage figs, the Tacoma Violette and one VDB(best fig so far) appear dead- I think I packed those two away still leafed out. Maybe died of thirst!
Lesson learned: Next year, I will either wait longer or snip off all leaves of figs going into storage.

i killed all my new plants during the winter of 2011-12. didn't water them for 3 months. now i water them every 15 days during the storage x) 

It looks like a lot of us in the cooler climes, are in the same boat....we're all waiting, with fingers crossed, for that familiar glimmer of green life.

Most of my collection was killed off.  My fault, I'm sure.  Ma Nature sure didn't help, either.  Winter of 2013-2014 will be one for the books!

I hoping that your trees, even though damaged, will bounce back.


Frank

All my plants are in pots and were in the garage.

I feel almost guilty reporting that I already have up to a foot of growth on some plants. Of the 250 or thereabouts fig plants I put up I didn't loose any and I'm seeing a lot of figs already. I put a small space heater in the garage and used it on the coldest 4 nights, but otherwise except for water my potted figs didn't need any attention. This year I did start watering them earlier and with more water. They broke dormancy well over a month ago. I put then out last thursday. The garage does have windows. I don't have a single in ground tree. Both my house and garage become crowded with plants in winter as I have at least another 50 plants that go in and out with the seasons. A strong recommendation for growing in pots where and when it's possible. 

I put a lot of my figs up with leaves on them - even figs and it didn't seem to make any difference. 
My biggest concern this year is sunburn on all the light green growth that occurred while I waited for our last frost (hopefully), but it has been over cast and fairly dark and rainy since I put everything out side so there is minimal damage so far.

I have been very lucky this year.

I do have several 1 gallon plants that have yet to start growing but they aren't dead yet (Socorro Black, CdDB, Rockaway Green, English Brown Turkey).

As long as the roots were buried deep enough I don't see these figs being completely killed. They should come back up from the ground IMHO . Unless roots froze over which meant they were close to the surface

I have a Texas Everbearing that I started off a large bush in town. My little tree had several trunks 1-2 in diameter at ground level. I covered it with a chickenwire cage filled with leaves. It died back to the roots. The mother plant is completely exposed, but even the finger sized branches are OK on it. What gives? I thought diameter was the deciding factor, but could it be the age of the root stock?

I don't really understand this, can someone explain it to me?

7a NC, my sleeper has a tiny green leaf coming out. Nothing on the monster yet..

Gene, could it be that the microenvironments that the mother tree and its clone are growing could explain the difference?  Otherwise I don't really have a good explanation either.

To Steve in MD.:
The figs I mentioned , being alive are, so because of protecting them with leaves, chicken wire and top water barrier.
They are not any hardier than other, hardy trees That I left unprotected.
It seem that -3F, for longer duration,as it happened this year will kill all above ground wood, on any hardy cultivar if left,unprotected.

Way down here in the Houston area all my potted trees are leafing out nicely. Black Jack, Battaglia Green, Hardy Chicago, Strawberry Verte and White (green?) Ischia all want to sleep in a little longer and only have leaf buds about the size of a pencil tip.

Only signs of in ground life for me on Long Island are some buds on Atreano shoots from last year that are still green. Nothing from old wood yet on other trees.

Potted trees doing fine.

Hows the Florea Herman2?

Finally!

        

It was proposed a year or two ago somewhere on the forum that cold temperatures might help "cleanse" a fig tree of fmv.  If that is true then a lot of trees in the northeast should be very healthy if they have survived this winter!

More of the same for me. Top 2 feet of growth or so is pretty crispy and brown on in grounds that were protected. No signs of budding but lower down the bark is gray and scrapes green underneath.

I am considering cutting back to the gray wood, hoping it will speed the process. Any thoughts on if pruning now could speed the overall process of stimulating new buds on old, gray wood?

Neggronne , Battaglia and Calliope Red Greek all have leaves and figs on them here in Fair Lawn NJ.
These were wintered over in a detached garage with several weeks at 20F.

My in ground trees still have no signs of life. I can see more red branches on some. My potted trees are all leafing out and some are putting out Breba.

Those little buds on NYCfig's pictures-I am seeing a couple of those on my in ground trees. Maybe in a month there will be leaves-in June! My what an unbelievable delay!

If  you really don't need/want that top, I would take it off and make cuttings. It can't hurt, and might just speed up bud break on the lower section.