Repository: pandas-dev/pandas
Issue category: Feature Request

Issue:
ENH: Group some columns in subplots with DataFrame.plot
`df.plot(subplots=True)`  will create one subplot per column. Is there a way to group multiple columns on the same subplot (and leave the rest of the column separated)?

I'd be happy to submit a PR if that's something you'd consider? In terms of API  `subplot` could accept a list of tuples where each tuple indicates which columns should be grouped together.


Hints:
Just to make sure I understand, `df.plot(subplots=[('a', 'b'), ('d', 'e', 'f')])` would have two axes?

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it'd be somewhat complicated to work that into our current `subplots` logic. At glance, it looks like we assume `subplots=True` -> one axes per column in several places.
> `df.plot(subplots=[('a', 'b'), ('d', 'e', 'f')])` would have two axes?

Yes that's the idea. My motivation is that sometimes some columns are comparable, in which case it would make sense to plot them together.

Patch:
diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v1.5.0.rst b/doc/source/whatsnew/v1.5.0.rst
index 45c32d689bd5b..fccfbb98f2591 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v1.5.0.rst
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v1.5.0.rst
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ Other enhancements
 - :meth:`MultiIndex.to_frame` now supports the argument ``allow_duplicates`` and raises on duplicate labels if it is missing or False (:issue:`45245`)
 - :class:`StringArray` now accepts array-likes containing nan-likes (``None``, ``np.nan``) for the ``values`` parameter in its constructor in addition to strings and :attr:`pandas.NA`. (:issue:`40839`)
 - Improved the rendering of ``categories`` in :class:`CategoricalIndex` (:issue:`45218`)
+- :meth:`DataFrame.plot` will now allow the ``subplots`` parameter to be a list of iterables specifying column groups, so that columns may be grouped together in the same subplot (:issue:`29688`).
 - :meth:`to_numeric` now preserves float64 arrays when downcasting would generate values not representable in float32 (:issue:`43693`)
 - :meth:`Series.reset_index` and :meth:`DataFrame.reset_index` now support the argument ``allow_duplicates`` (:issue:`44410`)
 - :meth:`.GroupBy.min` and :meth:`.GroupBy.max` now supports `Numba <https://numba.pydata.org/>`_ execution with the ``engine`` keyword (:issue:`45428`)
diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_core.py b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
index 29110f63787a6..929ddb52aea6d 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_core.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
@@ -649,8 +649,18 @@ class PlotAccessor(PandasObject):
         - 'hexbin' : hexbin plot (DataFrame only)
     ax : matplotlib axes object, default None
         An axes of the current figure.
-    subplots : bool, default False
-        Make separate subplots for each column.
+    subplots : bool or sequence of iterables, default False
+        Whether to group columns into subplots:
+
+        - ``False`` : No subplots will be used
+        - ``True`` : Make separate subplots for each column.
+        - sequence of iterables of column labels: Create a subplot for each
+          group of columns. For example `[('a', 'c'), ('b', 'd')]` will
+          create 2 subplots: one with columns 'a' and 'c', and one
+          with columns 'b' and 'd'. Remaining columns that aren't specified
+          will be plotted in additional subplots (one per column).
+          .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
+
     sharex : bool, default True if ax is None else False
         In case ``subplots=True``, share x axis and set some x axis labels
         to invisible; defaults to True if ax is None otherwise False if
diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
index 3899885bd95f1..5fceb14b9d1cc 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Hashable,
+    Iterable,
+    Sequence,
 )
 import warnings
 
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ def __init__(
         data,
         kind=None,
         by: IndexLabel | None = None,
-        subplots=False,
+        subplots: bool | Sequence[Sequence[str]] = False,
         sharex=None,
         sharey=False,
         use_index=True,
@@ -166,8 +168,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.kind = kind
 
         self.sort_columns = sort_columns
-
-        self.subplots = subplots
+        self.subplots = self._validate_subplots_kwarg(subplots)
 
         if sharex is None:
 
@@ -253,6 +254,112 @@ def __init__(
 
         self._validate_color_args()
 
+    def _validate_subplots_kwarg(
+        self, subplots: bool | Sequence[Sequence[str]]
+    ) -> bool | list[tuple[int, ...]]:
+        """
+        Validate the subplots parameter
+
+        - check type and content
+        - check for duplicate columns
+        - check for invalid column names
+        - convert column names into indices
+        - add missing columns in a group of their own
+        See comments in code below for more details.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        subplots : subplots parameters as passed to PlotAccessor
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        validated subplots : a bool or a list of tuples of column indices. Columns
+        in the same tuple will be grouped together in the resulting plot.
+        """
+
+        if isinstance(subplots, bool):
+            return subplots
+        elif not isinstance(subplots, Iterable):
+            raise ValueError("subplots should be a bool or an iterable")
+
+        supported_kinds = (
+            "line",
+            "bar",
+            "barh",
+            "hist",
+            "kde",
+            "density",
+            "area",
+            "pie",
+        )
+        if self._kind not in supported_kinds:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "When subplots is an iterable, kind must be "
+                f"one of {', '.join(supported_kinds)}. Got {self._kind}."
+            )
+
+        if isinstance(self.data, ABCSeries):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "An iterable subplots for a Series is not supported."
+            )
+
+        columns = self.data.columns
+        if isinstance(columns, ABCMultiIndex):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "An iterable subplots for a DataFrame with a MultiIndex column "
+                "is not supported."
+            )
+
+        if columns.nunique() != len(columns):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "An iterable subplots for a DataFrame with non-unique column "
+                "labels is not supported."
+            )
+
+        # subplots is a list of tuples where each tuple is a group of
+        # columns to be grouped together (one ax per group).
+        # we consolidate the subplots list such that:
+        # - the tuples contain indices instead of column names
+        # - the columns that aren't yet in the list are added in a group
+        #   of their own.
+        # For example with columns from a to g, and
+        # subplots = [(a, c), (b, f, e)],
+        # we end up with [(ai, ci), (bi, fi, ei), (di,), (gi,)]
+        # This way, we can handle self.subplots in a homogeneous manner
+        # later.
+        # TODO: also accept indices instead of just names?
+
+        out = []
+        seen_columns: set[Hashable] = set()
+        for group in subplots:
+            if not is_list_like(group):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "When subplots is an iterable, each entry "
+                    "should be a list/tuple of column names."
+                )
+            idx_locs = columns.get_indexer_for(group)
+            if (idx_locs == -1).any():
+                bad_labels = np.extract(idx_locs == -1, group)
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Column label(s) {list(bad_labels)} not found in the DataFrame."
+                )
+            else:
+                unique_columns = set(group)
+                duplicates = seen_columns.intersection(unique_columns)
+                if duplicates:
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        "Each column should be in only one subplot. "
+                        f"Columns {duplicates} were found in multiple subplots."
+                    )
+                seen_columns = seen_columns.union(unique_columns)
+                out.append(tuple(idx_locs))
+
+        unseen_columns = columns.difference(seen_columns)
+        for column in unseen_columns:
+            idx_loc = columns.get_loc(column)
+            out.append((idx_loc,))
+        return out
+
     def _validate_color_args(self):
         if (
             "color" in self.kwds
@@ -371,8 +478,11 @@ def _maybe_right_yaxis(self, ax: Axes, axes_num):
 
     def _setup_subplots(self):
         if self.subplots:
+            naxes = (
+                self.nseries if isinstance(self.subplots, bool) else len(self.subplots)
+            )
             fig, axes = create_subplots(
-                naxes=self.nseries,
+                naxes=naxes,
                 sharex=self.sharex,
                 sharey=self.sharey,
                 figsize=self.figsize,
@@ -784,9 +894,23 @@ def _get_ax_layer(cls, ax, primary=True):
         else:
             return getattr(ax, "right_ax", ax)
 
+    def _col_idx_to_axis_idx(self, col_idx: int) -> int:
+        """Return the index of the axis where the column at col_idx should be plotted"""
+        if isinstance(self.subplots, list):
+            # Subplots is a list: some columns will be grouped together in the same ax
+            return next(
+                group_idx
+                for (group_idx, group) in enumerate(self.subplots)
+                if col_idx in group
+            )
+        else:
+            # subplots is True: one ax per column
+            return col_idx
+
     def _get_ax(self, i: int):
         # get the twinx ax if appropriate
         if self.subplots:
+            i = self._col_idx_to_axis_idx(i)
             ax = self.axes[i]
             ax = self._maybe_right_yaxis(ax, i)
             self.axes[i] = ax


Test patch:
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/frame/test_frame.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/frame/test_frame.py
index c4ce0b256cd41..3ec3744e43653 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/frame/test_frame.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/frame/test_frame.py
@@ -2071,6 +2071,90 @@ def test_plot_no_numeric_data(self):
         with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="no numeric data to plot"):
             df.plot()
 
+    @td.skip_if_no_scipy
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "kind", ("line", "bar", "barh", "hist", "kde", "density", "area", "pie")
+    )
+    def test_group_subplot(self, kind):
+        d = {
+            "a": np.arange(10),
+            "b": np.arange(10) + 1,
+            "c": np.arange(10) + 1,
+            "d": np.arange(10),
+            "e": np.arange(10),
+        }
+        df = DataFrame(d)
+
+        axes = df.plot(subplots=[("b", "e"), ("c", "d")], kind=kind)
+        assert len(axes) == 3  # 2 groups + single column a
+
+        expected_labels = (["b", "e"], ["c", "d"], ["a"])
+        for ax, labels in zip(axes, expected_labels):
+            if kind != "pie":
+                self._check_legend_labels(ax, labels=labels)
+            if kind == "line":
+                assert len(ax.lines) == len(labels)
+
+    def test_group_subplot_series_notimplemented(self):
+        ser = Series(range(1))
+        msg = "An iterable subplots for a Series"
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=msg):
+            ser.plot(subplots=[("a",)])
+
+    def test_group_subplot_multiindex_notimplemented(self):
+        df = DataFrame(np.eye(2), columns=MultiIndex.from_tuples([(0, 1), (1, 2)]))
+        msg = "An iterable subplots for a DataFrame with a MultiIndex"
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=msg):
+            df.plot(subplots=[(0, 1)])
+
+    def test_group_subplot_nonunique_cols_notimplemented(self):
+        df = DataFrame(np.eye(2), columns=["a", "a"])
+        msg = "An iterable subplots for a DataFrame with non-unique"
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=msg):
+            df.plot(subplots=[("a",)])
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "subplots, expected_msg",
+        [
+            (123, "subplots should be a bool or an iterable"),
+            ("a", "each entry should be a list/tuple"),  # iterable of non-iterable
+            ((1,), "each entry should be a list/tuple"),  # iterable of non-iterable
+            (("a",), "each entry should be a list/tuple"),  # iterable of strings
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_group_subplot_bad_input(self, subplots, expected_msg):
+        # Make sure error is raised when subplots is not a properly
+        # formatted iterable. Only iterables of iterables are permitted, and
+        # entries should not be strings.
+        d = {"a": np.arange(10), "b": np.arange(10)}
+        df = DataFrame(d)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=expected_msg):
+            df.plot(subplots=subplots)
+
+    def test_group_subplot_invalid_column_name(self):
+        d = {"a": np.arange(10), "b": np.arange(10)}
+        df = DataFrame(d)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Column label\(s\) \['bad_name'\]"):
+            df.plot(subplots=[("a", "bad_name")])
+
+    def test_group_subplot_duplicated_column(self):
+        d = {"a": np.arange(10), "b": np.arange(10), "c": np.arange(10)}
+        df = DataFrame(d)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="should be in only one subplot"):
+            df.plot(subplots=[("a", "b"), ("a", "c")])
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("kind", ("box", "scatter", "hexbin"))
+    def test_group_subplot_invalid_kind(self, kind):
+        d = {"a": np.arange(10), "b": np.arange(10)}
+        df = DataFrame(d)
+        with pytest.raises(
+            ValueError, match="When subplots is an iterable, kind must be one of"
+        ):
+            df.plot(subplots=[("a", "b")], kind=kind)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "index_name, old_label, new_label",
         [