diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index d748b2e3..b9a30cbf 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -180,6 +180,9 @@ _plotDefaults[:zticks]            = :auto
 _plotDefaults[:xscale]            = :identity
 _plotDefaults[:yscale]            = :identity
 _plotDefaults[:zscale]            = :identity
+_plotDefaults[:xrotation]         = 0
+_plotDefaults[:yrotation]         = 0
+_plotDefaults[:zrotation]         = 0
 _plotDefaults[:xflip]             = false
 _plotDefaults[:yflip]             = false
 _plotDefaults[:zflip]             = false
@@ -304,15 +307,18 @@ add_aliases(:annotation, :ann, :anns, :annotate, :annotations)
 add_aliases(:xlabel, :xlab, :xl)
 add_aliases(:xlims, :xlim, :xlimit, :xlimits)
 add_aliases(:xticks, :xtick)
+add_aliases(:xrotation, :xrot, :xr)
 add_aliases(:ylabel, :ylab, :yl)
 add_aliases(:ylims, :ylim, :ylimit, :ylimits)
 add_aliases(:yticks, :ytick)
 add_aliases(:yrightlabel, :yrlab, :yrl, :ylabel2, :y2label, :ylab2, :y2lab, :ylabr, :ylabelright)
 add_aliases(:yrightlims, :yrlim, :yrlimit, :yrlimits)
 add_aliases(:yrightticks, :yrtick)
+add_aliases(:yrotation, :yrot, :yr)
 add_aliases(:zlabel, :zlab, :zl)
 add_aliases(:zlims, :zlim, :zlimit, :zlimits)
 add_aliases(:zticks, :ztick)
+add_aliases(:zrotation, :zrot, :zr)
 add_aliases(:legend, :leg, :key)
 add_aliases(:colorbar, :cb, :cbar, :colorkey)
 add_aliases(:smooth, :regression, :reg)
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index c7d88ddc..9ebb608e 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ supportedArgs(::PyPlotBackend) = [
     :n, :nc, :nr, :layout,
     :smooth,
     :title, :windowtitle, :show, :size,
-    :x, :xlabel, :xlims, :xticks, :xscale, :xflip,
-    :y, :ylabel, :ylims, :yticks, :yscale, :yflip,
+    :x, :xlabel, :xlims, :xticks, :xscale, :xflip, :xrotation,
+    :y, :ylabel, :ylims, :yticks, :yscale, :yflip, :yrotation,
     :axis, :yrightlabel,
-    :z, :zlabel, :zlims, :zticks, :zscale, :zflip,
+    :z, :zlabel, :zlims, :zticks, :zscale, :zflip, :zrotation,
     :z,
     :tickfont, :guidefont, :legendfont,
     :grid, :legend, :colorbar,
@@ -885,7 +885,8 @@ function _update_plot(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, d::KW)
 
     # handle each axis in turn
     for letter in ("x", "y", "z")
-        axis, scale, lims, ticks, flip, lab = axis_symbols(letter, "axis", "scale", "lims", "ticks", "flip", "label")
+        axis, scale, lims, ticks, flip, lab, rotation =
+            axis_symbols(letter, "axis", "scale", "lims", "ticks", "flip", "label", "rotation")
         haskey(ax, axis) || continue
         haskey(d, scale) && applyPyPlotScale(ax, d[scale], letter)
         haskey(d, lims)  && addPyPlotLims(ax, d[lims], letter)
@@ -898,6 +899,7 @@ function _update_plot(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, d::KW)
             tmpax[axis][:label][:set_fontsize](guidesz)
             for lab in tmpax[symbol("get_", letter, "ticklabels")]()
                 lab[:set_fontsize](ticksz)
+                haskey(d, rotation) && lab[:set_rotation](d[rotation])
             end
             if get(d, :grid, false)
                 fgcolor = getPyPlotColor(plt.plotargs[:foreground_color_grid])
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 42677913..ab1fdc62 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
 
     # add title, axis labels, ticks, etc
     if !haskey(d, :subplot)
-        # merge!(plt.plotargs, d)
+        merge!(plt.plotargs, d)
         # handlePlotColors(plt.backend, plt.plotargs)
         dumpdict(plt.plotargs, "Updating plot items")
         _update_plot(plt, plt.plotargs)
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index d2f591e0..8fd1235e 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -542,19 +542,22 @@ end
 function supportGraph(allvals, func)
     vals = reverse(sort(allvals))
     bs = sort(backends())
-    x = ASCIIString[]
-    y = ASCIIString[]
-    for val in vals
-        for b in bs
-            supported = func(Plots._backend_instance(b))
-            if val in supported
-                push!(x, string(b))
-                push!(y, string(val))
-            end
-        end
+    x, y = map(string, bs), map(string, vals)
+    nx, ny = map(length, (x,y))
+    z = zeros(nx, ny)
+    for i=1:nx, j=1:ny
+        supported = func(Plots._backend_instance(bs[i]))
+        z[i,j] = float(vals[j] in supported) * (0.4i/nx+0.6)
     end
-    n = length(vals)
-    scatter(x, y, m=:rect, ms=10, size=(300,100+18*n), leg=false)
+    heatmap(x, y, z,
+            color = ColorGradient([:white, :darkblue]),
+            line = (1, :black),
+            leg = false,
+            size = (50nx+50, 35ny+100),
+            xlim = (0.5, nx+0.5),
+            ylim = (0.5, ny+0.5),
+            xrotation = 60,
+            aspect_ratio = :equal)
 end
 
 supportGraphArgs()    = supportGraph(_allArgs, supportedArgs)
@@ -568,7 +571,7 @@ function dumpSupportGraphs()
     for func in (supportGraphArgs, supportGraphTypes, supportGraphStyles,
                supportGraphMarkers, supportGraphScales, supportGraphAxes)
         plt = func()
-        png(joinpath(Pkg.dir("ExamplePlots"), "docs", "examples", "img", "supported", "$(string(func))"))
+        png(Pkg.dir("ExamplePlots", "docs", "examples", "img", "supported", "$(string(func))"))
     end
 end