VIS: Accept xlabel and ylabel for scatter and hexbin plots

doc/source/whatsnew/v1.2.0.rst

@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ Other enhancements
 - Where possible :meth:`RangeIndex.difference` and :meth:`RangeIndex.symmetric_difference` will return :class:`RangeIndex` instead of :class:`Int64Index` (:issue:`36564`)
 - Added :meth:`Rolling.sem()` and :meth:`Expanding.sem()` to compute the standard error of mean (:issue:`26476`).
 - :meth:`Rolling.var()` and :meth:`Rolling.std()` use Kahan summation and Welfords Method to avoid numerical issues (:issue:`37051`)
+- :meth:`DataFrame.plot` now recognizes ``xlabel`` and ``ylabel`` arguments for plots of type ``scatter`` and ``hexbin`` (:issue:`37001`)
 
 .. _whatsnew_120.api_breaking.python:
 

pandas/plotting/_core.py

@@ -678,15 +678,25 @@ class PlotAccessor(PandasObject):
     ylim : 2-tuple/list
         Set the y limits of the current axes.
     xlabel : label, optional
-        Name to use for the xlabel on x-axis. Default uses index name as xlabel.
+        Name to use for the xlabel on x-axis. Default uses index name as xlabel, or the
+        x-column name for planar plots.
 
         .. versionadded:: 1.1.0
 
+        .. versionchanged:: 1.2.0
+
+           Now applicable to planar plots (`scatter`, `hexbin`).
+
     ylabel : label, optional
-        Name to use for the ylabel on y-axis. Default will show no ylabel.
+        Name to use for the ylabel on y-axis. Default will show no ylabel, or the
+        y-column name for planar plots.
 
         .. versionadded:: 1.1.0
 
+        .. versionchanged:: 1.2.0
+
+           Now applicable to planar plots (`scatter`, `hexbin`).
+
     rot : int, default None
         Rotation for ticks (xticks for vertical, yticks for horizontal
         plots).

pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py

@@ -924,8 +924,10 @@ def nseries(self) -> int:
 
     def _post_plot_logic(self, ax: "Axes", data):
         x, y = self.x, self.y
-        ax.set_ylabel(pprint_thing(y))
-        ax.set_xlabel(pprint_thing(x))
+        xlabel = self.xlabel if self.xlabel is not None else pprint_thing(x)
+        ylabel = self.ylabel if self.ylabel is not None else pprint_thing(y)
+        ax.set_xlabel(xlabel)
+        ax.set_ylabel(ylabel)
 
     def _plot_colorbar(self, ax: "Axes", **kwds):
         # Addresses issues #10611 and #10678:

pandas/tests/plotting/test_frame.py

@@ -3449,6 +3449,27 @@ def test_xlabel_ylabel_dataframe_single_plot(
         assert ax.get_ylabel() == str(new_label)
         assert ax.get_xlabel() == str(new_label)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "xlabel, ylabel",
+        [
+            (None, None),
+            ("X Label", None),
+            (None, "Y Label"),
+            ("X Label", "Y Label"),
+        ],
+    )
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("kind", ["scatter", "hexbin"])
+    def test_xlabel_ylabel_dataframe_plane_plot(self, kind, xlabel, ylabel):
+        # GH 37001
+        xcol = "Type A"
+        ycol = "Type B"
+        df = pd.DataFrame([[1, 2], [2, 5]], columns=[xcol, ycol])
+
+        # default is the labels are column names
+        ax = df.plot(kind=kind, x=xcol, y=ycol, xlabel=xlabel, ylabel=ylabel)
+        assert ax.get_xlabel() == (xcol if xlabel is None else xlabel)
+        assert ax.get_ylabel() == (ycol if ylabel is None else ylabel)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "index_name, old_label, new_label",
         [