 His travels then took him to work for Mr. C. Ryder at Slade, Kent followed by a spell at the gardens of Mr. T. W. Evans at Allestree Hall, Derby, before, in 1870, he joined James Veitch & Sons at Chelsea, London.At Chelsea, he worked under John Dominy in the "New Plant Department" and eventually became foreman in charge of the "Nepenthes" and fine foliage plants.In 1873, following the departures of George Downton and A. R. Endres, Harry Veitch was looking for a plant collector to travel to South America to locate and collect a quantity of the orchid, "Masdevallia veitchiana", which had been introduced to England in 1867, following its discovery by Richard Pearce but was still scarce.