August 8: The time had come to get started on the second phase of the iris dividing project. The photo seen above shows the last area of Yellow Flag Irises that needs to be divided.

I spent the first three weekends in July digging and dividing the irises in the rear of the design. Only the large group in the center of the yard remained.

I discovered last month that this project flows much smoother if I cut everything first before digging and dividing, and decided to employ that strategy once again.

I grabbed the clippers and bucket and starting cutting.

Before long, I had everything cut.

Even though this area may seem smaller than the winding path I divided last month, I guarantee that there is a significant number of irises here.

August 9: I started with an empty wheelbarrow today.

Dig, divide, repeat. Often.

I had a supervisor stop by to check my work.

According to my people on my neighborhood website, this is a Brachoria Millipede. I've seen several over the summer, which is supposed to be a sign that my yard is healthy.

I kept digging and dividing. I took the photo above near the mid-point of the dividing process. And my wheelbarrow was nearly full again.

I continued digging and dividing.

For those keeping score at home, the photo above is of wheelbarrow load number 4 from this year's adventure.

I kept digging and dividing until I ran low on energy. By that time, only the area seen in the photo above remained.

Hopefully, I can find more neighbors and coworkers who would like some irises for their yards.

The small group seen in the photo above represents the light at the end of the tunnel for the iris dividing project.

August 16: I headed out into the yard to finish the iris dividing project and noticed something awesome.

Last month, the Purple Magic Crape Myrtle bloomed for the first time in a while. Today, I noticed that the Plum Magic Crape Myrtle was also blooming.

Like the Purple Magic Crape Myrtle, the Plum Magic also hasn't bloomed in a while.

My suspicion is that I had too many dense irises surrounding all of the crape myrtles which affected blooming. After last year's iris division on that side of the design, both the Purple Magic and Plum Magic Crape Myrtles bloomed this year.

Hopefully, removing all of the remaining irises that surrounded the crape myrtles will be beneficial. The Crimson Red hasn't bloomed in a couple of years. Maybe next year.

On the agenda for today was the task of finishing the iris dividing project. I grabbed the shovel and started digging.

I began today with an empty wheelbarrow thanks to more neighbors who wanted irises for their yards during the past week.

Before long, I had everything out of the ground.

The final round of division resulted in wheelbarrow load number 5 of irises for this season.

Now it was time to replant. My goal was to put the lessons learned from this adventure to good use.

I took one of the irises I had just divided and planted it in the center of the area.

The idea was to expand outward, but not too far.

I was also careful to leave plenty of space in between plants.

I replanted until I had covered about 2/3rds of the original area, which should be fine. The next step will be to add mulch and create a border which I'll do later. But for now, the iris dividing project is finished.

Wheelbarrow load number 5 wasn't quite as full as the others. But that's ok. I've got more neighbors lined up to provide homes for the remaining irises.