betta fish are a pain in the ass... i used to have 8 of them. they're very paticular. not as particular as other fish, i'm sure, but still, very particular. you have to keep them clean and away from drafts and not in direct sunlight... i belonged to an online community for betta owners and people frequently got bitched out for keeping them in planters because that's apparantly bad for them for a whole host of reasons. (mostly, just make sure they have accurate ventilation. a lot of planters, like the vase-and-peace-lily setup, don't have adequate ventilation and a lot of owners of these setups are told that they don't need to clean the water because the plant does it for them... this is simply not true and as a result the fish pretty much suffocate in their own waste)..... also, bettas jump. mine never did, but it's something they can and often do, so make sure their container has some kind of cover or way to keep them in. this too should be such that it allows ventilation. another way in which bettas suck is that it's really, really easy for them to get sick.
on the subject of plants... i love bamboo thingies! i have two in water in a little pitcher thing. i wanted some but didn't want to spend $15 or more for them at the mall, so i got mine at a dollar store. each stalk was $1 and the pitcher was $1, so i have a nice little $3 bamboo setup, that is doing nicely.