diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py b/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
index f2fd98169b585..3c28038927401 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
@@ -387,6 +387,16 @@ def scat2(x, y, by=None, ax=None, figsize=None):
         _check_plot_works(scat2, 0, 1)
         grouper = Series(np.repeat([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 20), df.index)
         _check_plot_works(scat2, 0, 1, by=grouper)
+        _check_plot_works(scat2, 0, 1, by=grouper, sharex=False,
+                          sharey=True, xlim=(1, 3), ylim=(3, 5), color='red')
+
+        xrot, yrot = 30, 30
+        fig = scat2(0, 1, xlabelsize=xf, ylabelsize=yf
+        for ax in fig.axes
+            ytick = ax.get_yticklabels()[0]
+            xtick = ax.get_xticklabels()[0]
+            self.assertAlmostEqual(ytick.get_fontsize(), yf)
+            self.assertAlmostEqual(xtick.get_fontsize(), xf)
 
     @slow
     def test_andrews_curves(self):
diff --git a/pandas/tools/plotting.py b/pandas/tools/plotting.py
index 60ed0c70d516b..c5ba80ed9b971 100644
--- a/pandas/tools/plotting.py
+++ b/pandas/tools/plotting.py
@@ -1431,34 +1431,56 @@ def format_date_labels(ax, rot):
         pass
 
 
-def scatter_plot(data, x, y, by=None, ax=None, figsize=None, grid=False):
+def scatter_plot(data, x, y, by=None, ax=None, figsize=None, grid=False,
+                 xlabelsize=None, ylabelsize=None,
+                 sharex=True, sharey=True, xlim=None, ylim=None,
+                 **kwds):
     """
+    Draw scatter plot of the DataFrame's series using matplotlib / pylab.
 
-    Returns
-    -------
-    fig : matplotlib.Figure
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    data : Dataframe
+    x : column name of Dataframe for x axis
+    y : column name of Dataframe for y axis
+    by : column in the DataFrame to group by    
+    ax : matplotlib axes object, default None
+    figsize : 
+    grid : boolean, default True
+        Whether to show axis grid lines
+    xlabelsize : int, default None
+        If specified changes the x-axis label size
+    ylabelsize : int, default None
+        If specified changes the y-axis label size
+    sharex : bool, if True, the X axis will be shared amongst all subplots.
+    sharey : bool, if True, the Y axis will be shared amongst all subplots.
+    xlim : 2-tuple/list
+    ylim : 2-tuple/list    
+    kwds : other plotting keyword arguments
+        To be passed to scatter function
     """
     import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 
-    def plot_group(group, ax):
+    def plot_group(group, ax, *kwds):
         xvals = group[x].values
         yvals = group[y].values
-        ax.scatter(xvals, yvals)
-        ax.grid(grid)
+        ax.scatter(xvals, yvals, **kwds)
+        _decorate_axes(ax, grid=grid, xlabelsize=xlabelsize,
+                       ylabelsize=ylabelsize, xlim=xlim, ylim=ylim)
 
     if by is not None:
-        fig = _grouped_plot(plot_group, data, by=by, figsize=figsize, ax=ax)
+        fig = _grouped_plot(plot_group, data, by=by, figsize=figsize,
+                            sharex=sharex, sharey=sharey, ax=ax, **kwds)           
     else:
         if ax is None:
             fig = plt.figure()
             ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
         else:
             fig = ax.get_figure()
-        plot_group(data, ax)
-        ax.set_ylabel(com._stringify(y))
-        ax.set_xlabel(com._stringify(x))
-
-        ax.grid(grid)
+        plot_group(data, ax, **kwds)
+        _decorate_axes(ax, grid=grid, xlabelsize=xlabelsize,
+                       ylabelsize=ylabelsize, xlim=xlim, ylim=ylim,
+                       xlabel=com._stringify(x), ylabel=com._stringify(y))
 
     return fig
 
@@ -1735,6 +1757,49 @@ def _get_layout(nplots):
     else:
         return k, k
 
+def _decorate_axes(axes, title=None, legend=None, 
+                   xlim=None, ylim=None, grid=None,
+                   xticks=None, yticks=None, xticklabels=None, yticklabels=None,
+                   xlabelsize=None, ylabelsize=None, xrot=None, yrot=None, 
+                   xlabel=None, ylabel=None):
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+    import matplotlib.axes
+    assert isinstance(axes, matplotlib.axes.SubplotBase)
+
+    if title is not None:
+        axes.set_title(title)
+        
+    if legend == True:
+        axes.legend()
+    elif isinstance(legend, dict):
+        axes.legend(**legend)
+
+    if xticks is not None:
+        axes.xaxis.set_ticks(xticks)
+        
+    if xticklabels is not None:
+        axes.xaxis.set_ticklabels(xtickslabels)
+    if xlabelsize is not None:
+        plt.setp(axes.get_xticklabels(), fontsize=xlabelsize)
+    if xrot is not None:
+        plt.setp(axes.get_xticklabels(), rotation=xrot)
+        
+    if xlabel is not None:    
+        axes.set_xlabel(xlabel)  
+                      
+    if yticks is not None:
+        axes.yaxis.set_ticks(yticks)
+        
+    if yticklabels is not None:
+        axes.yaxis.set_ticklabels(yticklabels)
+    if ylabelsize is not None:
+        plt.setp(axes.get_yticklabels(), fontsize=ylabelsize)
+    if yrot is not None:
+        plt.setp(axes.get_yticklabels(), rotation=yrot)
+        
+    if ylabel is not None:
+        axes.set_ylabel(ylabel) 
+
 # copied from matplotlib/pyplot.py for compatibility with matplotlib < 1.0
 
 def _subplots(nrows=1, ncols=1, sharex=False, sharey=False, squeeze=True,