I always pruned mine down about this time of year. They looked ratty and were lots of work if I tried to just cut off the dead bits in spring.

I'm on Vancouver Island, I wait until I see signs of new growth, then cut them right back. sometimes we get a late cold spell and the old growth does give some protection.

A......

I wait until new growth appears in spring and prune above it. Otherwise it is hard to tell what is alive. It might depend on what size you want it to be. I like mine big.

Thanks for the suggestions.... as you suggest, I'll wait until I see signs of life.

I found out the hard way to wait for signs of life before pruning hardy fuchsias.

I killed them for years before I was lazy and left the brown dead stuff on later.

It does seem to be very important.

I don't prune my Buddleias or Caryopteris either until new growth is well established. Haven't lost any of them in years.