His “Albany cycle,” seven novels including “Ironweed,” for which he won the 1984 Pulitzer, are set there.
Great Weekend Reads: 4 New Novels, November 13, 2011|Susan Salter Reynolds, Christopher Byrd, John Wilwol, Jennifer Miller|November 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Ironweed of royal purple, maroon-shot, mingles in illogical harmony with the blue vervain and magenta trumpet-weeds.
Minstrel Weather|Marian Storm
He sank deeper amid the ironweed, forgot his errand, and began to dream.
Lewis Rand|Mary Johnston
The ironweed was in bloom, and sitting on its purple top the dryfly sang the song of midsummer.
Up Terrapin River|Opie P. Read
As for the ironweed, it clothes the pastures with a royal purple, so rich a hue it compels the eye, and is a kind of stimulant.
In the Open|Stanton Davis Kirkham
Only one weed seems to hold its own against it, and that is ironweed, a plant like a robust purple aster five or six feet high.