Can anyone recommend fast growing plants/ shrubs?

[Bongtrees]

Having lost several palms to beetle I need to replace them with something fast growing to fill the sorry gaps they have left in the gardens around the house.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

[murbisa]

How about replacing them with washingtonia palms They grow very fast. We have grown some from seed and after 4 years they are taller than me.
Jacaranda trees grow quickly as well. Or are you looking for shrubs?

[Bongtrees]

The gardens are ornamental so something large and and ornamental would be what I am looking for.

Does anyone have any advice re pampas grass or bird of paradise plants as they look like they could fill the space or is there anything else that grows fast?

[anis]

My pampass grass took 3 years to give blooms. Not a particularly quick grower - not my species anyway. It is one of those giant varieties.
When I lost my 4 palms near the house, it looked so bare and being in business, it didn't look too good so I had to do something quickly. I dug up 6 different coloured lantanas of about 3-4 years of age, plus a blue pellagonium from different parts of the finca and transplanted them into the bare gaps. I trimmed the shrubs right back first - as you would do with roses.
Within a very short time, the garden was bursting with colours again from these mature shrubs. Do you have any shrubs of a decent age that you could risk transplanting and then replace those you have "stolen" with some younger ones from a garden centre ?
I miss the palms but these shrubs are colourful and easy to look after.

[anis]

..not quite sure if I explained that properly. The point being, to buy shrubs large enough in a garden centre to fill these gaps would be a pretty hefty price.
By borrowing your own mature shrubs, you can get around that problem.

[murbisa]

I planted a bird of paradise and it is still the same size 5 years later and has never flowered. One big fast growing shrub in my garden that does well is a durante. It has the most beautiful little mauve flowers on all summer followed by a mass of yellow hanging berries most of the winter. It seeded itself last year and we have two more that are already huge. I bought a white one but it is nowhere near as good as the mauve one.
Plumbago also grow rapidly and flower all summer. And as Anis said, lantana grow rapidly as well. I think the best one is the yellow one for flowering.