Jack Wikle sat in a rather uncomfortable folding chair, a bucket hat pulled low, his arms folded over his LL Bean fleece and dark green smock, as the last of his bonsai collection drifted out of the large shed and into the hands of the highest bidders.

Hanging behind the auctioneer, a large banner fastened to a beam featured a smiling Wikle in a bucket hat, the same photo used to decorate a cake he would share with friends and family following the auction July 9 at Hidden Lake Gardens.

Wikle celebrated his 90th birthday at the live auction to benefit the Jack Wikle Bonsai Legacy Fund. The sale, along with a silent auction and a series of previous online auctions, raised some $40,000 for the fund, which will help support and maintain the bonsai collection at Michigan State University’s Hidden Lake Gardens in Tipton.

The fund was created last year, but Wikle established the garden’s bonsai collection not long after he began working there in 1968 as their first education specialist.

During the auction, he sat with a stack of Jack Wikle Bonsai Legacy 2023 calendars on his lap. I sat directly behind him and watched as friends and fellow small-tree-in-pot enthusiasts came up to wish him a happy birthday. Many gave him cards. Many gave him hugs and many hung around to chat and comment on how folks were getting quite the bargain on some gorgeous trees. He signed a few calendars for his fans and at one point apologized to me for standing in the way.

He wasn’t in the way.

At the end of the day, I walked out with a Japanese maple two-tree planting in a tiny 5-inch pot. Back in June, during the online auction, I snagged a handsome Siberian elm.

Both started as seedlings in his yard in nearby Tecumseh where his lives with his lovely wife of 64 years, Jeannine. But I found that out later. I didn’t want to bother Wikle during the auction, and I was a little worn out from sitting through just about all of the 146 auction lots. So, I called him up later and we met at his home for a short visit.

A few trees in various stages of development still line his outdoor bonsai benches. He told me that he first started unloading his collection 10 years ago. Three major arboretums and botanical gardens, Hidden Lake Gardens, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, and Matthaei Botanical Gardens got first dibs to purchase trees. Individual buyers came later.

Ten years later, Wikle sat calmly as the balance of his trees went to auction.

“Even before the auction, you know (people) were asking that question, ‘How are you going to feel about this.’ And my answer is, and I think it’s still valid, is what it was like when my daughter went away to college – a sense of loss,” he said. “But at the same time, an even bigger sense of relief. I’m not going to be spending as much time watering and working with (a large collection), you know I’ve got some stuff left here, but it’s less time-consuming.”

Wikle and I sat in some nice shade in his backyard. We talked about soil mixtures, the importance of roots being able to absorb oxygen, his pioneering work growing trees indoors under artificial light and how he first encountered a bonsai garden during an Army deployment to Japan in 1956.

I brought the Japanese maple that I bought during the auction. As I set the plastic mini cream puffs container on the grass between us, the maple safely stowed inside, I asked if he could tell me a little about the tree. I guess I accidentally called it “his tree.”

“Well, to start, this is your tree,” Wikle politely corrected me.

He noted the varied trunk sizes of the two-tree planting, which is a technique to help improve the individual aesthetics of the planting. But then he said something I’ll never forget.

“You know, it’s like your kids. Some people say, well what’s your favorite,” he said. “At any given time, I’ve probably got a dozen favorites. But this is one of them. I like it a lot.”

As we parted, Wikle noted the maple’s dry soil, and we walked over to the little courtyard with his bonsai benches. I set the tree on a rock on the ground and Wikle gave his, I mean my, tree a quick drink for the road.

Matthew Bird-Meyer is professor of journalism at Monroe County Community College. He can be reached at mbird-meyer@monroeccc.edu.