I agree, it's a problem for someone who hates to throw anything beautiful or
useful away...Consequently I have gallons of the buggers. Most dry nicely in
the microwave if laid on sheets of paper towels, covered with a paper towel,
and microwave on high for about 40 seconds, then check, turn, and make sure
they're not sticking to the paper and try another 40 seconds or so. It works
really well for those light colored petals that usually turn brown. They
must be fresh, unbruised, and not "over the hill" (plucked, not falling off
the buds.) They look quite pretty in bath salts, but I've not come up with
much else to use them for. I steep fresh petals in witch hazel, repeating
the process several times, and keep the lovely pink astringent in my fridge
as a cooling face rinse.
More suggestions would be great though.
(And yes, I'm pretty new here myself, but not new to roses either; my
collection has grown now to over 100)