Christina Hendricks indulged her passion for flowers by working as a florist during a break from shooting hit TV show Mad Men.

Hendricks, who shot to fame playing officer manager Joan in the drama, has always harboured an ambition to show off her green-fingered skills, so she took a job in a flower shop during her time off.

The actress admits her co-stars were stunned when they spotted her working in the store, but she was happy to arrange bouquets for them.

She tells Flare magazine, "I always wanted to be a florist. Unless you're buying flowers for a funeral, you're only going in there for a pretty happy reason. In fact after the first season of Mad Men, I worked at a florist.

"We had shot the pilot and it hadn't aired yet. We had to wait a year to shoot because (creator) Matthew Weiner was finishing The Sopranos. And all these actors that I'd worked with would come in and say, 'Oh... Everything OK?'

"And I said 'No! I've just always wanted to work at a florist'. And they would say, 'OK, can you help me pick out a bouquet?'

And I'd be like, 'I'll make you one!' I've always been pretty good at it."