Shields Date Gardens, Date palm orchard and tourist attraction in Indio, United States

Shields Date Gardens is a date palm orchard and roadside attraction on Highway 111 in Indio, California. Its Ranch Store, in use since 1953, is marked by a sign of a knight in armor pointing toward the main entrance. Floyd Shields bred the Blonde and Brunette varieties, still grown only here.

The orchard was founded in 1924 by Floyd and Bess Shields and brought specialized date varieties and new growing methods to the Coachella Valley. The family developed innovative techniques that transformed date farming in the region.

A small theater shows Romance and Sex Life of the Date, a fifteen-minute presentation Floyd Shields began as customer lectures and turned into a continuous slide-and-soundtrack show; a revised version appeared in 2007. The 39-page booklet of the same title, first published in 1950, went through several editions.

The Ranch Store occupies the building in use since 1953, entered from Highway 111 past the sign of a knight in armor pointing to the door. Inside, date shakes and black date ice cream are sold over the counter alongside fresh dates and date crystals for cooking and cold cereals. The property was bought by The Jewel Date Company of Thermal, which keeps the store at the same location.

Floyd Shields bred his own hybrids, including the Blonde and Brunette varieties, which the sources say are still grown only at Shields. The business also produced the first date sugar and date crystals, a dry date preparation used in cooking, on cold cereal and in date milkshakes.