Carolina Gardening: Couple of plants in trouble. Thoughts?, 1 by DebinSC

DebinSC wrote:
I have two plants that are suffering and I'm not sure why. And it's the kind of thing, that - if I've got it wrong - I'm going to make it worse.
Any ideas appreciated!
Here's the first. This acanthus gets about 2 ours of afternoon sun. Rest of the time is bright shade. I've been watering it regularly but then again, we haven't had rain in nearly 2 weeks, so there's not much moisture other than what I'm giving it. Until a couple of weeks ago it was nice and full and darker green. Question: Is it fading due to too much sun, too little water, too much water, or just too much heat and humidity?

If anyone has experience with them here, please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks!
Deb(2nd plant will follow in a sec)