dormancy in evergreens

how does one know when evergreens are dormant? I live in Northern lower MI which I saw in a gardening book was zone 4B. I have some starting material that is still in the nursery containers(3 gallon and 1/2 gallon) and some potted dwarf Alberta spruce, a boxwood and a juniper. I read that the plants can be brought in to an unheated garage for the winter but the temps here so far have been in the 30's to 50's for the past week and a few weeks ago it went below freezing a couple of nights. It's snowing tonight but the temp was still in the mid 30's. My main worry is putting them in the garage where there's not enough light. The ones i like better are currently in an unheated porch where they can get light from S and SE windows. I'm still a newbie.
rob v.

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You'll notice a color change in juniper and boxwood in response to the cold. *The green color of Juniper, boxwood and pine may tend towards a golden green or rust in some species.

Evergreens don't become entirely dormant so long as there is light and moisture available for them to grow. *Their metabolism certainly slows down in response to colder temperatures.
[*]Alberta spruce is fine on your growing benches. It's among the most cold tolerant plants you could grow as bonsai.
[*]Here is a nice chart of boxwood zone hardiness. *A lot depends on your growing zone and the species you have.

http://www.westernmainenurseries.com/basket/woody.asp?action=list&currentpage=3
[*]Look at this chart for addional species, including common garden juniper - Juniperus chinensis -30 to -20F. * It will be less for bonsai grown in the ground, but if you get the trees off their benches and onto or even into the ground, by burying the pots slightly in the earth, or storing them under the benches under mulch, out of the full force of the wind I don't think you will have problems. *Some growers protect their trees by putting them under the benches and covering with white polyethylene sheeting

http://www.westernmainenurseries.com/basket/woody.asp?action=list&currentpage=3


P.S. I need to admit here that I have no direct experience with the kind of weather you're dealing with. Our winter here in CA is balmy by comparison.

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thanks for the info. the boxwood does have green leaves with a reddish hue at the edges and maybe it's close to dormancy and the juniper is slightly less green but it may have been my repotting it late September/early October. I think i'm in the killing stage of the learning curve.
rob v.