Hi there. If you google 'how to stake pinks', some informative links will appear.

I never saw any that had been staked.

Nor me, but if you google, you'll see that some do indeed need to be staked.

I'd always thought of pinks as being the old fashioned ones that are neat and aren't very tall. I was disappointed when I bought some recently to see how tall they get.

Not sure of the proper name for them, but the wire grids held horizontally on legs have worked best for similar plants, such as Phlox, Rudbeckia, Lisianthus, etc.

My problem with pinks is that they don't flower for very long then go all straggly. Is it something I'm doing, the soil, or just the variety I have. I do cut them back when the first flush is over but never get any more.

Don't know the variety as they were given to me as a cutting.

That's what they do...
I think the old fashioned ones are better as the stems are a lot shorter and they stay neat.

I have been using the plastic coated circles on legs for my pinks (good price from Wilkinsons). After 4 years I take cuttings and dispose of the old plants when they have become too woody.