The peonies and black-eyed Susans were lovely. So too were the hydrangea bushes and rose of Sharon trees. And the fountains and statues of angels and wooden benches and window boxes.

The gardens on display Saturday at the 2006 Garden Walk Buffalo featured some of the city’s most attractive front, side and backyards. But it was the truly innovative few that made the self-guided tour of more than 200 gardens a visual – and sweetly scented – weekend treat.

Take the outdoor dining room behind 82 N. Pearl St. Eight can eat at the elegant patio table, as long as they don’t eat off it. The large square table is draped with a white tablecloth, then covered with moss. And that means moss under the plates and silver flatware.

Surrounding the table were flowers, fountains – including a waterfall that the homeowner called a rain curtain – and wind sails stretched above the deck, a twist on the standard patio umbrella.

“I like to take things a little over the top,” said homeowner Martin Kemp.

Kemp, a Buffalo native, and his partner, Terry Williams, moved here three years ago from Atlanta. They wanted to recreate the garden they had there, where they often relaxed with friends.

“I wanted a place where I could have a quiet cocktail and not deal with city noise,” said Kemp, an event florist and linen draper.

A smaller-scale “rooftop garden” retreat was created 11 years ago at 415 Little Summer St. in the Cottage District. Homeowner Ellie Dorritie planted the hundreds of flowers and shrubs in pots, then stacked stones around the groupings to form above-ground flower beds. A red brick path runs down the center.

“It’s just for me. It’s not a place where you throw a party. It’s a place to go hide and read a book – or mean to read a book but snip things instead,” said Dorritie, who sat on her front porch for much of the day, fielding questions and compliments from visitors.

Jennifer Sauls and Patrick Parmenter’s 380 Little Summer St. backyard is a bit more typical in design, but their flowers are anything but. The first-time tour participants were persuaded to show off their larger-than-life hydrangeas by their neighbors, who the homeowners said enjoy the space nearly as often as they do.

“We live out here,” Sauls said.

“Till the snow comes,” Parmenter quickly added.

There were other imaginative and impressive spaces, and there will be plenty of developed film, or computer slideshows, to prove it.

Avid gardener Christine Burdick was one of many visitors with a camera in hand – and a notebook in her purse to record good ideas for her own six flower beds. The Amherst resident came with friend Kathy Sapienza of North Buffalo.

They appreciated the welcoming attitude of the homeowners and gardeners extraordinaire, Sapienza said.

“They’re very willing to share what they do, so for avid gardeners, it’s a treat,” Sapienza said at Linda Costa’s 41 Rabin Terrace home.

Friends Alice Kaegebein of Depew and Shirley Berner of Buffalo toured the gardens to see what city residents can do with a small green space like they have.

“It opens a world of gardening to others. It shows it can be done,” Berner said.

Kaegebein said she enjoys gardening but admitted she doesn’t spend as much time in hers as some of the garden walk participants.

“I always thought my garden was nice, but not compared to this,” she said.

The free walk continues today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Maps are available at the Richmond-Summer Senior Center, Richmond Avenue and Summer Street; Buffalo Seminary School, 205 Bidwell Parkway; and the Allentown Association, 14 Allen St.