styrax japonica

I am trying to grow the styrax japonica(japanese snowbell) from seed and i would like to know the following.
i was told to soak seed for 48hrs , which i did.

then i was told to plant it in bonsai compost and place pot with seed in a poleythene bag in fridge for 10 week, and from time to time take it out for air.

does anybody know the germination time for this bonsai.

The seed doesn't tend to germinate until the spring. The time in the refrigerator is supposed to simulate winter. According to the information on the attached link, Styrax also needs to spend some time in warm conditions before the cold. 90 days warm followed by 120 days cold. I'm not familiar with Hampshire weather, but if it gets reasonably cold in the winter you might be better off just leaving the pot outside.
http://www.sheffields.com/seed_genus_species_lot/Styrax/japonicus/080091/////

That's what Ma Nature does, after all.

Hi Styrax, I have one of these trees in the garden and get seedlings popping up from it all the time so I would imagine they germinate pretty easily. We certainly don't get a very serious winter chill here.
Craig