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Loanhead is a former mining and engineering town on the North Esk above Roslin, sitting on the plateau between Bilston Burn and the North Esk gorge. The town is the closest Midlothian settlement to the Roslin Glen Country Park and the North Esk SSSI, whose ancient oak and ash gorge woodland begins just below the town boundary. Bilston Burn passes through the western part of the town, its corridor carrying hawthorn and elder scrub in a sheltered valley. The farmland around Loanhead carries oilseed rape and white clover; the amenity grasslands of Loanhead Miners Institute grounds carry clover well into summer. Sycamore on the residential streets and the North Esk valley slopes is the principal May flow.

Oilseed rape on the Midlothian arable plain between Dalkeith, Pathhead and the East Lothian boundary provides a powerful April-May flow that is one of the most reliable in the Lothians. White clover on the improved pastures of the Esk valley floor and the amenity grasslands of the Midlothian towns is the main mid-summer crop from June through July. Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree throughout the council area, with the best sources in the North Esk gorge woodlands at Roslin Glen and Lasswade. Hawthorn on the valley hedgerows and the Midlothian lane margins provides a complementary May blossom flow. Himalayan balsam is establishing in the lower Esk corridors near Dalkeith. Bramble is dense on former colliery and mining reclamation sites throughout the area. The Pentland Hills above Penicuik and the Moorfoot Hills above Gorebridge carry heather and bilberry from late July — modest but accessible upland heather ground within the council area. Ivy closes the foraging year on Dalkeith Palace estate walls and the older stone buildings of the Esk valley villages in October.