I took a walk around the yard just now and noticed some life in half of my in-ground trees.  I wasn't expecting anything out of the 1 year old trees.  Very excited!  I'm unsure if my unknown Carini will bud from the branches, but there's life at the bottom.  All unprotected this winter.  I'm most excited to see Longue d'Aout survive, as this is my only copy.

Congrats on signs of life after this icy winter! Why do you have wire cages around them?

Yeah, these look like mine except yours seem to be about a week ahead.  Glad that they made it unprotected - that's amazing.  Which ones aren't showing any life yet?

• Bari
• Marseille Black VS
• Dark Portuguese
• LSU Gold
• forgot to check on Negronne

Great news. Two of those I may try in ground at some point (VdB and LdA)

Did my fig die?  I live in VA and we had several brutally cold nights.  Is there anything I can do?  I'm sick about this, as I love this tree....

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Welcome kellieswank!  Don't give up hope just yet.  The tips on yours (and mine) are dead, but you will likely see new shoots from older branches, or at worst, from the ground level as mine are doing.  There's a better chance of survival than complete death.  The older the tree, the more cold tolerant they are too.  Yours looks to be a few years old.

FiggyFrank I am glad that you are seeing those green buds and leaves!  I can't grow outdoor/inground figs here, z4, but I am looking for green from my grapes and so far still nothing.  I'll wait until June before I really get realistic about the situation.  Seedless grapes in our area are sort of touch and go I believe...  On your profile pic, what kind of fig is that?  I just found out my fig tree that is about 6 ft. tall and is a few yrs. old is an Italian honey fig and not tissue cultured.  I am hoping to get at least 1 fig this fall.  I pinched the tips like everyone suggested and I'm getting a lot of new leaves.  Anyway, hope more of your procrastinators start showing some green.

Hi Kellie, on your top photo, isn't there one new bright spot of green leaf bursting out in the very center right at ground level? If so, your tree is alive at the core!

Frankie Fig, and others....

Vey nice to see that your trees are sprouting after surviving this miserable winter and cold spring.  I can see by the photos, the tell-tale rusty colored branches = the kiss of death for fig trees....but good to see the sprouting near the base.

Kellieswank's tree took quite a hit!  It'll come back from the older wood.  Wait for the tree/stems to leaf out, and trim away all the dead branches.  Oh....Welcome to the forum!

Hope our tears turn into smiles for all us fig growers.  I think we are all still a little "shocky" after seeing so much damage, especially up here in the North-East.  I'm just starting to survey some of the in-ground, Bronx trees, and so far...trees took a beating.  Looks like all last years new wood has been killed back, and just the basic core of the trees look alive.  Within the next month, the tale will be told.

I wish everyone the best of luck with their trees.  A tree is just a tree, but to us growers, losing trees is very, very, unpleasant.  I'm still reeling over my losses, and so are many other fig growers, I'm sure.

Frank

Checked on Negronne...no green (yet?).

Took a closer look at Marseille Black VS - it's alive!

 

Hi,
The last thing you want is trim those trees now. It can take until July for them to recover on the bigger stems - the stems you "must" keep.

In 2011, here, the winter was harsh and in May I saw some buds, so I started removing some branches that looked dead with no buds.
Of course, the buds start appearing near the dirt and as sap flows up, they come out at the top of the tree.

The branches were cracking under the clipper, when I just felt one with softy alive wood ... Too late :( for that branch.
That branch had a sister branch that was left not pruned and made 6 brebas ... So I lost 6 brebas from the one I cut ... Lesson learned !
Since then, those stems are used as stakes until they come back to life, or are removed in October after proven to be completely dead .

Thanks for sharing that, jdsfrance.  I'll be sure to wait a while before pruning.

Congrats Frank,

Looking like they are going to burst into growth and provide you with some fruit.

Good luck

Life in Virginia! In 2 weeks you will be well on your way.

Here in 7b Georgia, we are little bit ahead of you, such are the many joys of living in the deep South.  :-)

Joe, formerly of Loudoun County