What do I cut back or prune, what do I just leave?

[Redterror]

I have loads of stuff still flowering, including roses and penstemon. Should I leave these be or prune them.

Do I cut dahlias and peonies back to the ground? They look dead.

Then I have a potato vine still in full flower. Should I cut this back?

Any help appreciated.

I'm no expert but thought I would reply to try and bump this up the list. Its been such a mild autumn, timings are all confused, aren't they? I would cut back dahlias and peonies to the ground. I am planning to cut back my roses this week, but they don't still have flowers on them. I don't know about penstemons, but RHS says this: www.rhs.org.uk/plants/penstemons/growing-guide

Potato vine I know nothing about, but the general rule on here tends to be prune after flowering.

I tend to cut mine all back in February, leaving the stems as protection to the plant from wind, rain and frost over the winter. Some of them will already be putting out tiny shoots at that point, so good to get the sun on them. This includes my penstemons and peonies, asters, roses, geraniums, etc etc

As others say, leave them for now as the stems offer protection during winter. The roses you can dead-head any finished flowers, and the do a main prune in early February.

I have pruned my peonies and dahlias right back. They are under the ground now for winter. Roses also pruned back for winter.

I dont cut anything back except the roses in February. Insects need them for food and shelter.

I don't tend to prune anything back unless it's well dead and starting to rot or unless I think it's overly big and might suffer in winter winds. For example, roses grown in an exposed site may get blown about and this loosens roots so I tend to cut them back.

Dahlias get lifted and brought under cover for winter. I have a few I leave in the ground and have cut them back only because I then mulch heavily as a winter protection.

Peonies are left to die back on their own.

But most else is left to provide protection for the plant itself or habitat and protection for wildlife. I'll then tend to start the tidy up in late Jan/early Feb (weather depending).