I have multiple blocks of time series data on an Excel sheet, with each block having its own set of dates. For example, I might have dates in column A, values in column B, and then dates in column D and values in column E. The values in B go with the dates in A, and the values in E go with the dates in D. The dates in A and D may not be the same. I would like to create a scatter chart with a time category axis that is the union of my two input date ranges in columns A and D.

If I select all the data and then go insert chart (in Excel 2010), Excel treats only column A as the X axis, and looks at D as just another set of values.

I can get Excel to do what I want by first just charting columns A and B, then selecting D and E and copy-pasting onto the chart. However, I would like to avoid this two-step procedure if possible.