I am in zone 5 and I have the same situation. I planted euomymus colorata last spring. It looks brown after being covered by snow all winter but I am hoping it leafs out in spring. Any other suggestions in case it doesn't would be appreciated by me as well.

I checked and there are green buds so it survived. Euonymus colorata will take shade or sun. It does not like overly wet ground and does well for dry sites. It will probably turn purplish in your winter climate like it's supposed to do.