Dana Reyes & Aaron Whitman

Dana had studied saguaro populations for a decade and could tell a plant’s age from a photograph. Aaron had built his company out of a garage in Tempe and was, he said, finally tired of only meeting other founders. They started corresponding in late February, just before the desert began to bloom.

Their first date was a sunrise walk at South Mountain. Phoenix in spring is beautiful at six a.m.; by nine it is punishing. They timed everything that first month around first light — breakfasts in Arcadia, mornings at the Desert Botanical Garden, a drive up to Sedona over a long weekend.

They were married in the fall at a small venue in Cave Creek. Dana insisted on a ceremony at dusk; Aaron agreed, on the condition that her professional slide deck on pollinators would not be a wedding toast. She agreed, reluctantly.