All the rainfall Southern California has seen this winter has helped to ease the state's six-year drought and may offer a flicker of hope for fans of a certain bright orange flower.

In a good year, the green fields of the California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster appear afire with the blooming of the state flower. Park officials told KPCC the reserve has already received the minimum amount of rainfall to make a bloom possible -- more than 7 inches -- and that the poppy stalks have sprouted.

But Jean Rhyne with California State Parks, who helps keep track of the bloom at the reserve, says it's still too early to tell what sort of spectacle awaits flower lovers this spring.

"We actually don't really have a good count of how many we're going to be seeing later, but we are hoping that it's a good sign that we are already starting to see them coming up," Rhyne said.

When temperatures stay below 85 degrees and the soil stays saturated, park officials and scientists start to get their hopes up for a big bloom in April.

Rhyne said she usually knows by the end of February what to expect. By then, Rhyne gets a good idea of how plants are growing and how the year's temperature has affected the plants. If healthy, the flowers typically bloom in March and last through mid-April, sometimes longer.

A number of factors could still throw off the poppies this year. A freeze could kill off the young sprouts. Rain could oversaturate the moisture. Or an unknown factor could sweep in and completely change the way scientists think of poppies, she said.

“Even when we think all the factors are lined up to have a really great season, and it looks like nothing can stop it, a new surprise will happen and we learn a little bit more about all the different factors," she said.