These look like one of the smaller Oxalix, Sanbaz, like O. lacinata? (The bulbs would have looked like little pink shrimps).These prefer a dry winter dormancy and I mostly grow them in pans in the greenhouse, completely dry at this time of year. I am experimenting with some in a very well drained and gritty part of a rockery and they came through this OK last summer. They are not too bothered by the cold, can you cover the barrel with a piece of perspex or something similar? They will still want the light but make sure that air can get in.
Can you tell us what type of Oxalis it is?

thankyou bulbaholic, im not sure which they are, i got them with some other mixed bulbs, they have a leaf like a clover with a daker cross on leaf, thats all i can tell you really, ive popped the barrel under the glass table outside so the rain doesnt get to them anymore to see if that helps

Could be what they call 'Iron Cross', Sanbaz. They should do OK in the open but as the soil in the tub ooks a bit peaty and water retentive to me keeping them out of the direct rain for a while would be beneficial.

thanx bulb.... will give it a shot and hope for the best :o))

I had the Iron cross oxalis bulbs in a large container and couldn't believe the size of the leaves on them, I was expecting something not much bigger than a clover but they were massive, much bigger than the red flowers.
Not sure how frost will effect them but in my experiance they love the rain, my large container didnt have very good drainage but they thrived in it. I even sheared them down before they flowered and they just regrew.

thanx user, the stems have been bent and dont look like they will pick up, only a few have stayed upright, do you think i should just wait and see if they continue to grow? hope they still flower to

Sanbaz - I would leave them where they are and not touch them at all and see what happens in spring

hi andrew, ive just popped them under my glass table so they dont keep getting to much water, just take them from under there every other day, wont touch them or anything else, thanx

They disappear completely in the winter, Sandra - and grow again next spring, so don't worry. They do come up very late, though - I panicked this year because I thought I'd lost them, but up they came again, They're very reliable. :-))

oh really barbara, i was thinking this was the start of the flowers coming, well i feel alot better knowing that, ;o))

All my Oxalis Triangularis are growing huge with flowers, I suspect the strange climate and weather we have had recently may have had an influence on plant and bulb growth. I do have mine in a clod frame. I will have to water them soon, leave them outside, they'll get flooded!!

oh dear everyone telling me differant things, im going to leave them but shelter them under table so they still get light as its glass, and hope for the best i think ;o)) thankyou all, for your help :o))

Sandra - yours are Oxalis deppei 'Iron Cross'. (also known as Oxalis tetraphylla 'Iron Cross') They are different altogether to O. triangularis. Check the name out on 'google'.

ok will do thanx barbara ;o)