Sounds like the fern is not getting enough water. Be sure to water the entire trunk of the fern everyday. Keep in mind the trunk is actually a collection of roots that grow upward pushing the leaves taller. Freezing could have done some permanent damage. Try the watering and see if it recovers.

Thats not a very good sign. If it was alive it should have leaves by now. Is the trunk soft. Did it see a lot of cold (they are one of the more tropical tree ferns and cant handle freezing temperatures very well). Maybe it just got tired of growing back since they arent really suppose to lose their leaves every winter, but they are able to. A pic would help a lot. Good luck!

I don't know if I would call them temperamental. They do have a few requirements. Daily moisture if they are experiancing heat over 75F. Drainage. No quick changes in day-to-day sunlight. The don't grow indoors of course. The soil in your photos looked sandy. The prefer more vegetable matter >70% I'd say. They can handle pH5-7.5. They're not keen on wind. So Cal Santa Anna winds can hack them if not in shade and watered. Mine is in full sun all morning until 3pm. Daily temps 100 - 109F 50% humidity, daily water. It has about 30" of clean trunk. The fronds are about 60% burned to a crisp by the sun. However that was a long process that started this spring with luxurious, large, dark-green fronds. Much spore this year. Note: they are suseptable to Rhizoctonia.

Wonderful, thanks.