I stratified some manchurian apricots last year in a little moist soil in
some plastic container in the fridge. It worked quite well and nearly all
germinated, but they sprouted in november (must have started them a little
too late). So I nursed the spindly little things along all winter inside,
eventually putting them under lights. I got them out just after the last
frost but unfortunately 40 degree nights still brought on the fall colors in
May. I figured they were gonners but about half of them eventually came
back, amazingly.
This year I have some dry apricot, cherry plum, and peach pits I'm going to
plant out in late fall to come up in the spring for eventually grafting a
year or so later. I figure I'll have less worry that way than having very
small trees before the winter sets in.