More vigorous than regular northern pecans, Kanza northern pecan (Carya illinoinensis) will grow between 6 and 12 inches per year in our climate. Compared to shagbark hickory (of the same Carya family) they are faster growing and just as cold hardy.
These seedlings are 8 to 16 inches tall.
Photo credit: Pmg, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons