Posted by Gus on 5/17/2008, 6:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Red River Gum (for wood work)"
Link: Eucalyptologics: Info resources on Eucalyptus cultivation all around
81.32.97.30
Being so far away from TX I surely can be wrong, but with those lows E. camaldulensis aerial parts should not survive in the long term. It is however quite possible that favourable watertable means a fast regrowth after worse than the average winters killing the aerial part.
Telling apart the fastest varieties for z8 or z9 is yet another difficult question. It depends on other climatic factors besides winter minima. Annual rainfall and its distribution along the year have importance, unless that watertable is permanent even in the worst of summer drought. For instance, very humid hot summers seem to not work well for species having dry summers in Australia. And subalpine species in Australia should not like too much summer heat. Soil fertility also matters. And "the way to grow them" also matters.
For my z8 summer dry but 30-40 to 80 inches rainfall per year in an Atlantic climate, there are some quite fast growing species. But these pale timbers are different from River Red Gum, not as appealing for au naturel woodwork (still useful as industrial timber, even for some fine work).
Still, even in these cases, "fast" is rarely below 15 to 20 years (for big logs) in the best sites at our latitudes. And fast grown timbers as these do need proper drying and processing to be used for this finer uses. Nothing new, it happens to most hardwoods.
Sorry not to be more specific, I am at the other side of the pond, and what works here does not necessarily have to work elsewhere 
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