import pandas as pd def add_rec_bars(ax, dates=None): if dates is None: dates = pd.read_csv('/Users/tom/bin/rec_dates.csv', parse_dates=['Peak', 'Trough']) for row in dates.iterrows(): x = row[1] y1, y2 = ax.get_ylim() ax.fill_between(x, y1=y1, y2=y2, alpha=.25, color='k') return ax