I have 3 ficus nitida trees in my back yard that have suffered heavy frost damage. The trees are 8 years old and have always been lush & green. The crazy recent weather here in Phoenix really has my trees looking very, very bad. All the leaves have turned a horrible purple-brown color and are starting to drop already. What I am wondering is does anyone know if these trees will survive of if they will die? The lowest temps they were exposed to was about 25 for 2 or 3 nights but those 3 nights really have done a job on them!
Thank You gary in Scottsdale AZ

Hi Gary,
I'm not terribly knowledgeable in this area, but what I was able to find out online -- 25 degrees appears to be the hardiness cut-off for this plant in your zone, as well as seemingly about the lowest temperature these trees will tolerate. It is normal for them to lose leaves after a hard frost. And they are only particularly vulnerable when newly planted.
Given their age, and thus likely well established root system, in the absence of any more unusually cold weather this winter, I would suspect there is a reasonable chance they will probably bounce back eventually. Though being an evergreen, hopefully all the leaves will not be lost.
Hopefully someone knowledgeable can tell you more.
Best of luck with them. Take care.