Maria Zampini, President at UpShoot, LLC
Maria is a 4th generation nurseryman and proud of it! After graduating from Penn State with a BS in Horticulture, she ran the family’s 1000 acre wholesale nursery, destination attraction garden center and new plant research and development division. She took a new path in 2009 partnering with her father to form UpShoot LLC, a boutique horticultural marketing firm focusing on sales, marketing and licensing of new plant introductions and gardening related products. In 2019 Maria partnered with Spring Meadow Nursery to develop the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Trees program.
Maria is a freelance writer for both green industry trade journals and consumer gardening magazines. In 2015 she released her first book with co-author Pam Bennett titled Garden-pedia: An A-Z Guide to Gardening Terms. This ASHS award winning book is going in to its second printing. Additionally she has spoken nationally and internationally on a variety of gardening related topics. Maria has pushed the glass greenhouse ceiling becoming the 1st female President of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association and International Ornamental Crabapple Society. She serves as the President of GardenComm: Garden Communicator’s International and was recently named to the Horticultural Research Institute Board of Trustees.
Locally she is on the Salvation Army Advisory Board in Painesville, Ohio. She is Director of Marketing for the Fairport Harbor Arts and Culture Alliance and the Village of Fairport Tree Commission, both in Fairport Harbor, Ohio.
Living, Supporting and Sharing Horticulture
UpShoot is a boutique horticulture marketing firm. We are passionate about plants—growing and locating new ones. Experiencing that undeniable thrill of first discovery—whether it’s our plant find or yours! We love learning about plants and sharing our knowledge to the media and consumers. From breeders and plantsmen to growers and gardeners—UpShoot helps all ornamental horticulture enthusiasts live out their passion for plants. We nurture growers new plants into successful products. We share valuable information through our national writing and speaking engagements.