I have noted that when I did something like:

```
states_years.boxplot(column=['Col of interest'], by=['Characters', 'Numbers'], sym='rx')

```

That the boxplot is sorted alphabetically by 'Character', but that the 'Numbers' are not always sorted. So for instance the order from left to right could be 

Alabama, 2012 ; Alabama, 2013, New York, 2013 ; New York, 2012

Do I need to sort the dataframe before doing boxplot or can I do something when calling the boxplot *\_*\_?

---

Update
======

I found the "bug". The problem was tailing spaces which caused sorting to go wrong.

So I guess my question is then: 

* How do I clean up tailing spaces the pandas-way?

I will give the bounty to the most elegant solution. Thank you for your help in advance