What to do with dead perennial foliage?

So traditionally one would just remove the old dead foliage from plants such as nasturtiums and viper bugloss and then put in for composting. However, i'm trying to garden with wildlife in mind, so I'm thinking of leaving the plants in situ, so insects can hibernate in them and/or the plant matter mulches down itself.
Is this the best thing to do? Or perhaps I should leave foliage until say march and remove it then?
Is this the best thing to do? Or perhaps I should leave foliage until say march and remove it then?
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Some leave behind stalks that are sharp and potentially dangerous, like phlox.
Some things go matted and slimy and unpleasant, like montbretia (now called something else but I can’t remember what).
These are things that I clear up in autumn and put on the compost.
Other things just die down gracefully, like blackcurrants, or leave stalks that are pretty in the frost, like Sedum spectabile.
These things I leave to rot down until the spring. If they are still around then, I put them on the heap.