In general you should do pruning early in the year so new tissue can cover the wound during the growing season.
If by "cut down" you mean remove entirely, then whenever you want.
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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No...I meant cutting them short so they can start over in the spring if that makes sense
Are these perennial flowers we're talking about? Leave the stems attached until the birds in your area have eaten the seeds so they fare better over the winter. Seed heads will also catch snow and ice to create "winter interest" as it's called in landscaping circles, giving your garden something pretty to look at even in the depths of winter. Those upright stems will also provide critical habitat for insects - they can provide that habitat if they're cut and left whole on the ground but will become inaccessible if you get an early snow that lingers.
We are in zone 3. We usually trim after first frost. How we trim depends a bit on the plant. Eg: roses get cut back to a ball about a foot in diameter (and wrapped -- some go in the garage if in pots); while blackberries get cut down to the ground if they produced this year -- or they get wrapped as they stand are if they didn't (they have a two year cycle, but rabbits fuck with them in winter); we have a decorative tree called a "smoke tree" which we trim back every year so it doesn't grow too large.