Jumping off the deep end...

[huntergc]

90 days ought to be about right for Utah juniper it seems. They rarely get that many hours in much of their native range.
I would pull them and set them in your warmer spot, whatever it is, to germinate.

You work in the field, so you probably know better than most of us where to find the horticulture on these if it exists, but I haven't come across much.

I put them in my grow racks with all the other farm seeds that are getting cracked right now, nights in the mid 50s and days in the mid to upper 60. I chose not to put them on heat mats, whether good or bad. Plus the heat mats are currently cracking peppers. Other options are the greenhouses. One unheated and the other with a heating option (not currently on though, not enough farm mass to justify the propane bill). Ultimately it’s just a waiting game I think…

maybe I’ll just repurpose some of the maple seedling I dug out last summer… they were meant to go into a windbreak but no one will miss a few. And I have plenty more still in the ground

 

[huntergc]

Remove all the pulp, scarification with acid to imitate the passage through the stomach of birds is usually the best method, also a cold stratification about couple of months seems to speed a lot the germination

I wish you luck. Juniper seeds germinate very slowly. Some species even take a year or two after planting. Try to find research on germination Utah juniper seeds from an .edu source where they've run calculated experiments on best methods to improve your chances and so you'll know what to expect. Such as:

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1845&context=extensionhist

I tried with a couple of other fun non-farming projects I’m working on. Unfortunately not a lot of useful-to-me information. Mostly about large scale reseedings and wildland management. The source you linked sounds really interesting! I’ll give it a look!

 

[huntergc]

Life happens while you're waiting to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Exactly! Well said, whether Bonsai or any other aspect of life!

 

[ShadyStump]

Keep us posted.
Like others have said, it can take a REALLY long time for juniper seed to germinate, that's why they're usually propagated from cuttings. If you want I can send cuttings of Rocky Mountain or oneseed juniper if you get impatient. Not the same as your Utahs, I know, but they might help get you through the learning curve on care in Michigan.

 

[ShadyStump]

Came across this site while looking for cold stratification info.
Hope it helps.

Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper) Seed Description

Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper) Seed Description

www.treeshrubseeds.com

I'm bookmarking it just as reference.

 

[huntergc]

Life happened, and suddenly it is almost the end of October… I guess it’s time for an update:

I’m sure it will surprise no one, that after being absolutely pampered since February with all the love and care a seed can receive- nothing. Not a single attempt to stick anything above the soil. Oh well, not suprising, and all apart of the process. I’ve taken them from their cushy inside life of luxury and tossed them outside somewhere safe to ride out the winter and elements as they do and hopefully in a few years there will be something. In the mean time, last fall I dug up some silver maple babies from the field (they were in the way of the farms commercial garden, I don’t like killing trees, and if they happen to sit in a pot for a while and eventually become a bonsai, it’s a terrible accident to have). I’ve been keeping an eye on local nurseries to see if they have any more advanced stock- and everything around me is annual flowers for people who come up and want to decorate their cabins for the summer. I/the farm also planted a windbreak this year and there are some extra replacement trees left over. And if those happen to go the way of the silver maple in pots (who also happen to be their neighbors) that would also be a simply terrible accident.

On a side note, this spring I also started some Sequoia from seed and have 9 seedlings ranging from an inch to three inches tall. I don’t know if they are destined for bonsai or are going to be planted somewhere to be a problem for someone else in a hundred of year when someone looks at them and wonders who on earth had the audacity to plant them there. But if my legacy is a couple of trees that baffle the people who come after me, there are worse things to leave behind. It won’t be someone else’s problem for a long long time anyway. There is something incredible hilarious about the thought of a Sequoia, king of the trees, as a bonsai

[EDIT] This was the site's 1 millionth post!! [/EDIT]

 

[ShadyStump]

Next time you're visiting, maybe try some cuttings. Juniper are notoriously difficult to start from seed. I wonder if many species don't actually require multiple rounds of alternating warm and cold stratification. Cuttings are much more reliable.

Anyways, sounds like you've got the bug now. Just don't let yourself get caught turning your entire orchard into a field of niwaki.

Actually, might make for some tourist dollars.
DO IT!

 

[huntergc]

Next time you're visiting, maybe try some cuttings. Juniper are notoriously difficult to start from seed. I wonder if many species don't actually require multiple rounds of alternating warm and cold stratification. Cuttings are much more reliable.

Anyways, sounds like you've got the bug now. Just don't let yourself get caught turning your entire orchard into a field of niwaki.

Actually, might make for some tourist dollars.
DO IT!

Oh, the orchard (apple and a few pear) is already vaguely bonsai shaped, but that’s more because of what it has been taking to bring it back after 25 years of abandonment. Lots of dramatic cuts to remove disease and structural catastrophes… still have 2+ more years to go probably on that project. A bonsai orchard isn’t actually that bad of an idea, you might be into something… hold on, let me go mark off a few acres (jk, I don’t think people in this neck of the woods even know what bonsai is, in the past two weeks I’ve had to explain to people that pumpkin spice is a season flavor because pumpkins grow all summer and are ripe in the fall, and that the advice I get most often about tree work is “cut it down!“

I need to get some cuttings next time, or maybe take a road trip to a most perennial nursery….

 

[ShadyStump]

If you kept the orchard work you're already doing going in that niwaki direction, you wouldn't even have to name it. People would just like to see the cool trees, word would spread, and you get even more people. Maybe a short explanation of niwaki in a visitor pamphlet is the most you'd need.