I had a beautiful drake elm in st. bernard killed by katrina. but it did grow pretty fast, and while it wasn't huge, in a couple years did make a striking presence and beautiful weeping form.
I like crape myrtles, they grow pretty fast. Let's see, I had a cassia which is a good butterfly small tree but grew fast and really pretty yellow flowers. I had a lemon tree that grew pretty fast, not really for shade though. Chinese tallow which I really like but they say is invasive and now they discourage its use. I think river birch grows pretty fast. If you go to the LSU Ag Center site, you can find it easy with a search on internet, they will have all the trees for LA and whether they are fast, slow, tall, etc.

Thanks for the info.

Louisianagal
You are so right about the Drake elm. They are awesome trees. I purchased a very large tree and planted it only to have it blown down by a hurricane one year later. The Hurricane pulled up the support ropes and sakes that I had used to secure it. It was blown down flat on the ground uprooting most of the roots. I pulled it out of the ground with my tractor and the next year it sprouted again from the few existing roots. Today it is about 15 feet tall and doing well.

Karpes,

I posted this, but then had to re-activate my GardenWeb account, so forgive me if this posts twice. How long after the hurricane did it take for your Drake to get 15 feet tall? The reason I am asking is that I just (ie: 15 minutes ago) got what I THINK is a great deal: 3, 5-gallon, 7-ft tall Drakes from Lowes...for $8.50 apiece! They look very healthy and the Drakes are on my "list" of trees that would fit my space and conditions. I was intending to buy some 7- or 15-gallon trees; however, in order to not have them be so puny in the landscape. But, these all three are the same height, all have a nice crown and all are branched similarly. It was almost too good to be true. (And, if it is, oh well...I only paid $25+ for the lot of them!) Anyway, I know they are reputed to be fast-growers, but I am wondering just HOW fast?

MK87
It was hurricane Lilly that fell the drake elm along with several of my other trees. Lilly came through in the fall of 2002 so that would be almost exactly 5 years ago
The original tree was a gift and it was approximately 10 feet tall with a burlap root ball of about 2 foot diameter.
I removed the tree shortly after the passage of Lilly and it was the next summer before we saw any sprouts. It sprouted slowly for the first few months and really got going about a year later. Your small tree is actual farther along then the root that my tree sprouted from. You will like this tree because it is almost evergreen.
I also have a couple of lace bark elm trees that are really beautiful but grow slowly.
Good luck
Karpes

karpes,

Thanks for the info. Yep, that's pretty dang fast. Well, that's what I want, so I'm pleased. Although, I had someone on another forum (I didn't realize I'd posted this question in the LA/MS forum and I'm in GA), and was told that this tree is considered invasive. This confuses me, because when I go to sites such as UGA Co-op, this is a recommended tree. I guess maybe every plant is considered invasive in one place or another? I hope I am doing the right thing, but I need shade for my St. Augustine grass (I'm from MS and my husband is from LA, so we love the St. Augustine!) and it is supposedly drought tolerant, and I am attempting to be responsible.

River Birch is a beautiful fast growing tree that likes most of the US and really likes it here in Louisiana and Miss.