Interesting flower, pretty. If you called it 'Bouncing Bet' or soapwort, more might recognize it.

My mother used to have some growing in an untamed area near the road. It is related to rose campion and silene. She called it Bouncing Bet.

"Soapworts are cultivated for their attractive flowers; they grow freely in any soil and under most conditions. The crushed leaves or roots of S. officinalis have been used as a soap since the Renaissance. Museum conservators still use the soap made from its leaves and roots for cleaning delicate fabrics and it also makes a fine shampoo." -- Wikipedia

Nell

I agree, that looks like the double version of the flower. Very pretty. My mom has a big patch of the regular stuff in the wild area of her yard. It's a rather floppy plant, and I think the petals get pretty shabby looking, I don't think it's as showy as many other plants. However, the double version, or rock soapwort, look nicer--but maybe because I haven't grown those and seen those get shabby!

I have the native variety. It does flop, but I still love it. Mine grows in a very neglected area near the cherry trees. It grows as a groundcover. I just love it.

That variety is really pretty. Those blooms remind me of peach blossoms. Very pretty.

~Annie

I tried last year, but nary a seed germinated. I thought it belonged in my garden. I do favor the old, simpler flowers.

May try it again sometime.

glenda

I grow a plant I thought was rock soapwort but it is very low growing - only a few inches high - and blooms prolifically but only in spring. I love it as an edging at the very front of the beds. Oddly, I don't have a photo of mine but it looks like this:

http://www.van-vliet.org/florafauna/images/rock-soapwort.jpg

Is this a relative of the taller plant in the picture by the OP?

That looks like S. officinalis 'Flore Pleno'. I just grow the white species, but have been lusting after this double pink cultivar for some time.
CMK