Walter Reeves has a nice chart available on his site re. pruning times for shrubs. I included a link below.

I have been cleaning up last years growth on some perennials this week. Mostly because of nice weather and because the birds have eaten the seed heads already on most of them. I would not uncover or remove mulch from around perennials just yet if I lived in Dalton. We may be having a mild winter so far, but I think surely some freezing temps are still between us and spring. And it's not too late for a little snow in the mountains.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shrub Pruning Calendar