The list goes on..in case you can't tell, I'm an absolutely novice. I purchased a house during NE Ohio winter last year and had no idea what was buried under all the snow! Trying to learn as I go! Thanks!

tj

there are bigger hosta.. lol ...

there are few.. if any .. plants that MUST be chopped in fall rather than spring ... it really is.. either/or ... not one over the other ... and not doing is NOT a guilt thing ...

besides.. for a newbie.. its the best way to 'SEE' how the plants die back .. [even now.. 30 years later.. i still worry.. in fall .. i will cut off the one piece that will live..]

take before and after pix ... so that should you have time in fall.. you can look back.. and see .. how it all worked ...

a tip on pix ... learn latin ... it really matters ... its how we know we are talking about the same plant ... some common names are applied to more than one plant..

when i take pix ... and upload them.. the camera calls them something like DCS 002 ... etc ... but my program allows me to add the date.. so they end up 20120116 DCS 002 ...

then when i put them in my PLANT FOLDER ... i add the latin .. in this case a conifer name.. to end up with:

Pinun pungens 'Hoopsi' 20120116 002

so over the years i have all the hoopsi pix in date order ... in one folder ....and the 002 is important if i take more than one pic per day .... the camera kicks those up automatically ...

so to boil it down.. fall cleaning is for the retentive types .. who probably clean their house also.. lol.. it drives them crazy to see their garden messy all winter long...

for the rest of us.. who dont clean our house.. lol.. we call it 'winter interest' .. lol .. and do it .. when we have time.. some in fall.. some in spring.. some never.. lol .. and we call that the 'natural effect' .. trust me.. i can justify anything .... lol

never forget.. in nature.. there is no one to cut them back .... and clean them up.. and they survive just fine ...

now ... these forums are pretty dead.. so i look forward to many more posts .. so we can get you up to speed ...

ken

Also, just so you know proper names to some of those common names -

Coneflower is usually an Echinacea.
Blanket flower is the common name for Gaillardia. Yours looks like it could be Gaillardia 'red and yellow.'
Black Eyed Susans could be a few things but it usually is a type of Rudbeckia.

If you post photos we can help you identify. I am poor about naming the species you have photos of so maybe someone else can help or you can try the hosta, peony, and iris forums.

You'll need to cut the iris back by early April to protect from borer.

The rest you can clean up in the spring.

Iris, hosta, and peony are more likely to have disease and insect problems if you don't clean them up first thing when they thaw enough to clean up, but for one year it may not matter.

Everything else you can do whenever is convenient before they really start growing in spring. Just be aware that you want to avoid walking on the soil while it's wet since that may compact it.