I cut the foliage on pretty much everything towards the end of November. I try to do it before Thanksgiving when yard waste collection stops. I don't mulch the beds very regularly. The reason for these two decisions has to do with the amount of snow we typically receive and the climate in the spring. If I leave the foliage on, or mulch too heavily, it traps too much moisture in the growing tip and near the crown and will kill the plant if I can't get it cleared out ASAP.
Even when it was -15 this past winter we had 2 feet of snow to insulate the plants. I ran into trouble because I happened to be out of town when we finally thawed and I didn't get the tops of the plants opened up soon enough.
