Hi all! I just purchased a Azalea pre-bonsai treebush and have some questions about dormancy. This tree grew up in southern California and I live at 9600' feet in Colorado! By the looks of this guy, I would have to guess.......it's still summer in Cali, lots of nice green leaves. It's snowing with 115 mph gusts here!

I know, I know you can't usually grow Maples, Gingkos and other fun plants here because of the short summers and super cold winters but I disguise my exact location to my tree's by raising them in a greenhouse and wintering them in a designated tree fridge.

My question to anybody with some insight is, how should I go about introducing this plant to a real dormancy period?? I know it would slow it's growth down considerably during the winter in California. I'm going to have to halt it's growth for the first time in its life. Does anybody have any recommendations for me and my nice little tree?