Looks like it needs a good soaking.

I agree they look thirsty. But it's also getting cold and they made be starting to shed their leaves. I'd water it every other day for 20 mins (for a week) to see if it helps.

I would stick my finger down into the rootball itself to see how damp it is. Sometimes due to the texture change between the potting soil and the soil around it, water doesn't soak into the root ball. If it's really dry (and since we had such a dry summer it may have dried out), the peat moss in the potting soil won't rewet easily. You may need to dig it up and give it a good soaking in a bucket. Then replant and mulch well so it is less likely to dry out again. I'd also probably remove a bit more of the nearby grass, so it doesn't have competition for water. Once established, these are pretty resilient plants - I didn't water my established PW this summer, even though we went for weeks without rain and by August we were something like 9" below normal rainfall for the year.

If the root ball not really dry, it probably has been hit by frost and the leaves are just done for the year. I'll try to swing by my plant after work today to see how it looks, though I am just north of Concord in a cold spot, so I imagine we've had colder weather than you.

NHBabs this is very helpful, thank you so much!