I'm not finding any references to speeding up the process either. "Sow fresh seed in late summer/early fall, outdoors. Or give seeds 90 days moist warm, followed by 90 days moist chill - germination may occur anywhere from 6 - 18 months after returning the seeds to warm."

I don't see why not. Don't know if this will be enough to overwinter it there, though.

The growth habit of O. fortunei is quite a bit larger...and those leaves are entirely different. O. fragrans is the Tea Olive and has small but incredibly fragant flowers in the cool seasons. O. fortunei (typically called Osmanthus) is also fragrant, but nothing like the Tea Olive. Yummmm! Osmanthus is hardier, too. We were given a Tea Olive for our North Alabama back yard, and it's done just fine over two years, but I wouldn't expect it to do well if it ever got into the single digits.

Have you checked with plant brokers for wholesale nurseries? 15 gallon sized Osmanthus fragrans are not that common, but they should easily be available as 5 gallon. You do know that these can grow to become small trees, don't you? Osmanthus fragrans will take constant pruning to keep at 6 foot tall, and I would suggest that 8 foot tall is a more reasonable size. I have one that I planted 8 years ago that is already 18 feet tall. I don't know of any wholesale nursery that is open on Saturdays besides San Marcos Growers down in Santa Barbara, so it sounds like you are willing to pay retail? Have you already checked with Sloat Nurseries, Berkeley Hort Nursery or East Bay Nursery here in Berkeley to see if they have/and/or can get them? You might also place a call to Pacific Nursery in Colma(wholesale only) to see if they have any.