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Hawarden (Penarlâg) is a village at the eastern edge of Flintshire, best known as the home of Victorian statesman William Gladstone, whose castle library — now Gladstone's Library — stands beside the ruins of a medieval motte-and-bailey castle in the village centre. The surrounding estate parkland and farmland carry sycamore, mature lime and horse chestnut alongside dense hawthorn hedgerows on the lanes between Hawarden and the Dee foreshore at Shotton. The Flint and District BKA serves the eastern Flintshire parishes including Hawarden.

Sycamore is the dominant flow tree throughout Flintshire, lining the lanes and valley sides from the Alyn valley near Mold to the wooded dingles of the Greenfield Valley. Hawthorn hedgerows are exceptionally strong on the Halkyn plateau and the Hawarden ridge, delivering a reliable May flow across the county. Lime trees in the older town centres and on the Mold and Caerwys market streets contribute a July supplement. White clover is widespread on the pastures and recreation grounds of the lower valleys and coastal plain. Bramble is abundant on the former industrial and railway land around Shotton, Buckley and the Greenfield Valley margins. Gorse on Halkyn Mountain provides a late-winter and spring pollen source. Alder and willow along the Dee foreshore and the Alyn riverbanks contribute early pollen for colonies emerging in spring.