They have frozen out on you. Pull them up and try something else in that spot.

Something hardy.

Any suggestions of alternative fragrant small evergreen shrubs that are hardy to zone 6 (I'm in zone 7 but I want a pad since things that have said they're hardy to zone 7 aren't hardy where I live), hoping for something 2-3' tall evergreen and fragrant.

Any suggestions?

Abelia might work...no where near as fragrant as gardenia, but it has a slight scent and some varieties fit the 2-3' and evergreen bill.

Wynswrld,
Don't pull them out.
Leave them alone and thee is a good chnce they will be jsut fine. Is this their first winter planted in your garden?
It's very early, give them til the end of April, and see if you don't notice a lot of new geen leaves on them.
Don't be impatient, they are just babies.

butterfly4u: thanks for the feedback I really have nothing to lose to see what they do this spring. If they are truly dead I should know as we get into May and can replace them with something else (not a gardenia). It's a shame because I do love the smell of them and it's difficult to find many evergreen summer blooming small shrubs. I already have summer blooming daphnes around, was trying to give variety to landscape with other varieties - gardenia foliage sure looks a lot different from daphne foliage so it gives variety.