Through plants, paths and statues, an ISU professor has created a place where people can walk among gods.

Mira Engler, associate professor of landscape architecture, competed with more than 200 garden designers for a spot at England’s annual Westonbirt Festival of the Garden, which will have an estimated 130,000 visitors. Only 13 gardens were accepted for the festival, and Engler was the only U.S. representative at the festival.

Engler’s design, entitled “Otherworld Garden,” was inspired by Celtic mythology.

“There are very important concepts in Celtic mythology,” Engler said. “It is the difference between our world and another world where immortals exist and gods and goddesses live. It is where the source of health, wealth and youth can be found.”

In May, Engler went to Gloucestershire, England to build her garden. She was given $24,000 to buy the materials, and she hired the help of John Packer, who created the sculptures. Engler said she was happy with the turnout of her garden.

“I didn’t think my garden would be so popular,” she said. “The joy it has given to people is beyond what I would have wished for.”

The 6,000-square foot garden consists of a triple spiral path made of dry limestone lined with many pink and purple bedding plants. Engler used petunias, verbenas, ajuga and other ferns and climbing plants to decorate the garden. After the triple spiral, there is a symbolic gateway where a goddess is giving birth.

“The ‘Otherworld Garden’ is like taking people on a journey to the other part of the world,” Engler said. “Walking down the triple spiral, into the woods — it’s like a labyrinth or a maze.”

The path leads into the forest where there are hundreds of aged, enormous trees. There are many characters from Celtic mythology made from meshed wire and large stones. One of Engler’s favorite characters is the ram-horned serpent. She said children enjoy this sculpture because its mouth is so huge they can take pictures with their heads inside it.

Engler said she finds the mysterious narratives of Celtic mythology very interesting.

“They left such interesting monuments and features in the landscapes, and I decided to capitalize on that in my garden,” she said.

In a corner of the garden is a Galla’n, a stone inscribed with Celtic Ogham symbols. There are Celtic characters who hold smaller stones that have ancient letters carved in them, each letter signifying a kind of tree. Engler said visitors to the garden take these smaller stones and stamp the figures throughout the garden. Some visitors even keep the stone as a souvenir.

Peter Butler, lecturer of landscape architecture, worked closely with Engler on the garden’s design.

“Mira’s design links us with an essential existence, an archetypal world where myth comes alive and confronts us with our past, thus informing our future,” Butler said.

Butler was impressed with Engler’s entry in the Westonbirt competition.

“The design for the Westonbirt Festival allows new perceptions and participatory experience for the garden visitor, uncovering a forgotten past and creating fresh, new portable associations,” he said.